Uncle Billy
Uncle Billy was a swell guy. I am truly sorry that he’s gone.
The first time I met Uncle Billy was at Thanksgiving (or maybe Christmas) dinner at my mother-in-law’s house, in Minnesota. He showed up with a hard plastic case, light blue, a little bigger than a large laptop computer.
He opened this case, which turned out to hold cutlery, and took out some extremely sharp knives, which he sharpened some more. He was then given a whole (enormous) turkey, which he carved into perfect symmetric portions, leaving a nearly meat-free carcass behind.
He was kind enough to throw me little bits as he carved, as one would to a dim but focused dog.
We became friends after that, and he let me help carve later turkeys.
Billy passed away recently. He will be missed.