Technically, my mother's uncle. He was one of the men who raised me.

He was in his 70s as I was a child. And he still worked out regularly, and walked with a proud stature, upright. People up to no-good found something else to do when he looked their way.

Friendly, all spoke well of him. A former short-order cook, he could whip you up something to eat like it was nothing, and always good.

But his actual training and background was as a chemist. Even see the Mr. Clean guy? The one who looks a little like a genie from a lamp? That's what he looked like. And he had, in fact, made a cleaning product, which he called Genie, which he thought the Mr. Clean people had ripped off. Maybe the ramblings of an old man, maybe right on the money. All I know is that their mascot looks like my uncle.

He served in WWII, in the navy, I believe. Pacific side of things.

Terance Schmidt, 2015

Julian E Montville