Uncle Tony Thompson
Uncle Tony Thompson, Nov. 1987 Uncle Tony was a family legend. Uncle Tony was my father-in-law’s brother. His name wasn’t actually Tony. It was Charles Thompson Jr., and, as it was explained to me, he was referred to when young as “Junior.” At that time, many sons in Italian families were called “Junior,” so since “Junior” sounded Italian, someone decided to call him “Tony,” a more official-sounding Italian name. And it stuck. He was what we in our family call “a real character.” He exemplified the kind of person a true follower of Christ should be—but he was also one of the funniest people you could ever meet. And he wrote fascinating letters, many of which my mother-in-law has kept. Quotations below are all excerpts from letters Uncle Tony sent to his brother, Paul (my wife’s dad) and Paul’s wife, Kathy. The letters are generally typewritten and rife with creative spelling and punctuation choices (which I’ve reproduced when quoting him below). SIBLINGS Dad Thompson (Paul) and...