Not so Typical Valentine

Otherwise known as: The Day I Got a Letter Wishing Me a Happy V.D.

During undergrad I often got letters and packages from my mother and grandmother wishing me happiness on holidays such as Valentines, Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, etc. I rarely got letters from other members of my family so you can imagine my astonishment when I received a letter from my old codger of an uncle.  At this point Uncle Ken had been divorced for a few years, and the only time I really spoke with him was when I called the family business to talk to my mother.  I suppose part of my astonishment came from the fact that to this day whenever I am in the same room with my uncle he punches me, pinches me, gives me the occasional nookie and still has not stop threatening a swirly.

As I opened what I thought was a normal letter I first noticed that it was typed in the traditional business format; date, name of recipient, address, salutation, three paragraphs, closing, signature, name of sender.  I went on to read the letter explaining his think in sending the letter: my mother - in classic mother fashion- sent me a card and my uncle was responsible for taking the mail to the post office.  When he noticed the card addressed to me, he turned around and wrote my address down, intending to write a letter and send it to me in Iowa -my family lives in Washington. 

In the closing paragraph my uncle wished my a "Happy V.D. and I don't mean venereal disease."  From that day forward I haven't had a Valentine's Day with out thinking of my uncle's very classy Valentine.