[December 12, 2023] I am fortunate to live in a rural community with a low crime rate, good and courteous people, reliable utilities, and proper local governance. Alas, there is always a Scrooge who wants to make things bad for others, and we have one who goes around photographing people’s homes and complaining. Their offense? They have Christmas decorations in their yards; at night, their lights are “too bright.” There is a lesson in the story of my Uncle Scrooge.
In a tongue-in-cheek way, I wrote this letter about my great uncle Eddie Scrooge. It’s my way of telling the naysayers to mind their own business. Perhaps I’m too obtuse. If you think so, let me know. Here is the story.
As children, we had a wonderful great-aunt who doted on us and loved us dearly. Sadly, she passed away too early in life. Her husband was a bore, yet we visited him early each year in December out of respect. Great Uncle Eddie, we called him “Uncle Eddie Scrooge,” and for good reason. I remember visiting his home; it was cold, dull, and gray.
For Christmas, each of us kids would bring him a small gift, handmade with our own hands, never store-bought: a drawing of Santa Claus, a plaster ashtray, or a ‘house’ made of popsicle sticks. “Humph!” Uncle Eddie Scrooge would say. He did not like Christmas gifts, especially those made of “junk from the trash can.”
And he never put up a Christmas tree, unlike our great aunt, who made the inside and outside of “her” home warm and welcoming when she was alive, especially for us during Christmas time. Uncle Eddie Scrooge did not like kids. When visiting, he sat in his easy chair, smoking a cigar, and let us know we kids were disturbing his peace.
My mother would ask if he wanted us to help him decorate. We kids would jump for joy at the suggestion, but the answer was always the same from him, “no!” Each time, as we left Uncle Eddie’s home, we looked back with sadness because we remembered how bright and inviting the home once was.
Two decades later, I was in my mid-20s, having just returned from a military tour of duty overseas, when I got an unexpected phone call from Uncle Eddie. He said he loved me and my family. He passed away two weeks later. I now remember their home as a bright, open, welcoming home, with Christmas decorations, the smell of tasty holiday food, inspiring songs of joy, and love.
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Love this article. We all have Uncle Scrooges in our lives, sometimes.
Great job my friend. Wow uncle Eddie. My man is Eddie. My neice and nephew called me Uncle Eddie. I so thankful I’m not the that uncle to them. I love Christmas. The light outside the house and decorations on the inside. My mom and grandma cooking for the family dinner. We eat dinner and done grandma would gather all the kid’s around the tree. She had little money yet each of us kid’s got a gift. Wow that’s awesome.
Gen Douglas my friend, your Uncle Eddie might have had a bad experience growing up with little or nothing for Christmas gifts. So; he didn’t want to enjoy something that he never had change to enjoy as children.
I meet people like Uncle Eddie. I show them how to enjoy Christmas with laughter. It was noted that your uncle Eddie called you to say He loved you. Days later he passed. You made a difference in his life touched him. He like the movie the end the little boy touched Mr Scrooge heart ❤️.
Yeah, but you weren’t called Uncle Eddie Scrooge! 😜
Many Scrooges out there. Be like Mr. Gilliam who is willing to help change them. 👌
Slam dunk!
Exactly! And why I keep reading his blogsl
Gen. Satterfield, you sure know how to nail people who are trouble makers. but but but but, we are also trouble makers when it comes to the basement-dwelling, communist, pinko Democrats who want to destroy America. They don’t realize that their garbage only lives in highly democratic societies. Elsewhere, they purport to support will kill them in a minute.
Cheers and Happy Christmas soon. Gen. Satterfield continues to provide us (his) blokes with great content and in today’s blog post, he gives us an underhanded smackdown to a local idiot who is ratting on her neighbors for having Christmas decorations. What a sad lass this woman must be.
Great to hear from you Gil, and I always look forward to reading Gen. Satterfield’s personal blog each day too.
Imagine having another leadership blog…..no, I can’t. 👍
Gen. Satterfield, I’m sure your great uncle Eddie ‘Scrooge’ was actually a good guy or else your great aunt would not have married him. I gather they were childless, as implied, so your uncle had little experience with rug rats like you (ha ha, no offense intended) running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Loved the article.
kick ass
old warrior, once again you have made my day brighter by your get-to-the-heart of the matter fast. Thank you. keep your content coming to us and I will keep on laughing and having a good time. You are one of the reasons I read this blog forum, just to get some humor.
Excellent, Gen. Satterfield, just excellent.
OUCH, I’d not like to know that I was the rat in the neighborhood. I hope this person didn’t use their real name.
There is no accounting for the little Nazis in our mist. Contrary to opinion, these dumb asses are out there watching our every move. Your grass one inch too high, the lawn police are sent to issue a fine. Your sidewalk has a twig on it, send in the twig police. Ha Ha. This is what America is coming to. Next will be reporting you for having opposing political opinions and send in the hate speech police. Oh, that is already happening.
Truly an ouch. Well said Marx and Groucho. 👍
We are all subject to the radical leftists that want us all to submit and be chained up like slaves. But they get to have all their privileges and not be subject to their own rules. We have a name for that.
Totalitarianism
Timing is an art. Well done!
Pow. Got that right.
We are Gen. Satterfield’s people and we deserve it.
Early Merry Christmas.
Let’s not take Christ out of Christmas, please.
The more we have from Gen. S, the better.
And, I look forward to your next “letters to my granddaughter.
😊😊😊😊😊😊
Great comment, JT.