Uncle Mikey -- the same as always: a cute dimpled smile, kind eyes, and a knack for saying the right things to a wide-eyed, dreamy little girl. As my memories recall, he told me a Japanese fairytale that his father read to him on a dreary, cold night. When Uncle Mikey read it to me, it was also a cold winter night, and I hate to sound so cliche, but man was it warm in our household with our loved ones. On days like now when I'm on my own, these delightful memories keep me alive.
So! The fairytale of a man named Urashima Taro and his kind personality. I always pictured Uncle Mikey as Taro since both are very friendly and think of other people. Although Uncle Mikey as a human was pretty funny and he always said, "You think I would look ugly as a human?" with a pouty face. The giggles coming from my chest, the excitement that would make me wiggle in my spot, and how I would reach for his hands to play pattycake to calm my excitement while he was trying to tell me a story.
"You would look weird as a human! I like you as a turtle!" I cried as my chubby fingers latched onto his.
I could tell this warmed his heart. "And I like you for the way you are, too, Shadow. Want to hear the story of a turtle turned human?"
"Yes! Yes! And does the turtle find another turtle to love!?"
"In fact she does!"
"Really?! So she fell in love with you, right? Because you're Uncle Mikey and you need a missy turtle!"
He chuckled to this for a long minute and shook his head playfully. "This is the story of Urashima Taro and how kind he was. Everybody respected him and his endearing personality. He was also a respected, hard-working fisherman. Hard-working, got that?"
"But I don't want to be a fisherman!"
Hard-working.. respect. Man, I could hug him for what he taught me.
With more chuckles, he continued, "One day, he rescued a poor turtle who was being tortured by a bunch of rotten kids. You're not a rotten kid, right? You don't pick on poor creatures?"
"No because Uncle Raph would beat me up!"
"Well, he wouldn't hurt you but he would be stern with you about that. But Taro rescued the turtle and sent her back to the sea...."
His voice drowns in my memories on this frigid night but I remembered the story. The turtle was a human princess who lived under the sea, she and Taro became wife and husband, and for three days he had forgotten his parents on land. When he went back to the land, three hundred years had passed, and breaking his promise to his queen and opening a box, he died lonesome and old.
The story and that night with Uncle Mikey has stayed with me. Time and a few lovers have also passed from my life, some of my family have moved on, and I keep searching for a dream of adventure and acceptance.
Uncle Mikey, I miss you.