A Love Story

My Uncle Cecil was a true character. Smart, quick witted, and friendly were his trade marks. He married a lady named Lucille Buckley or "Buck" as we knew her. Cec worked for the paper mill in my home town and he and Buck were living in an apartment on Elm Ave. in downtown. In the early 50's Cec and Buck left town and moved to Florida where they lived until Buck's passing in the late 70's. Cec worked at an airbase and retired from that government job. While Buck was still alive my father began traveling to Florida to visit Cec and they had a time. After Aunt Buck passed Cec began coming to Racine and eventually made his way up to our hometown to renew old friendships and look over the land that he loved.

It turns out that Cec had another love. There was a woman there who he had known from the 5o's. They had an affair and Buck found out about it. Buck told Cec they had to move or she would seek a divorce and that would kill Toot, Cec's mother, my grandmother. Whether it would've killed Toot or not is another question, Toot herself was a divorcee. Cec did not want to offend his precious mother so off they went to Florida. Cec never returned to Munsing until about 30 years later. To my knowledge he never corresponded with anyone in Munising and had broken all contact.

When Cec returned he finally sold his condo in Tampa and moved back to Munising. It wasn't too long before Cec remarried to Marilyn his old flame. Marilyn had married after Cec left Munsing and had several children. Her husband left her and she was a single woman when Cec returned some 30 years later. They reconnected and married. Cec lived for several more years passing away in the early 90's. His final years were marked by heart problems, but he and Marilyn had a good life together as short as it was. I saw Marilyn last summer and she hugged me and started to cry that she missed Cec very much. They didn't get much time together, but it was quality.

My sister Carol dislikes Marilyn because of the previous affair. Carol has some rigid ideas of right and wrong and feels like the affair was wrong. I agree, but it happened. I can't fault Marilyn, or Cec after all I am the last to judge that situation as it happened to me. But I find the reconnection touching and I don't mind Marilyn. I don't have much to do with her, but I live many miles away and I did not see Cec much when he returned to the Midwest as I moved to Arkansas in the late 80's. It is a broken love story, one that I find no fault with. I am glad that Cec had some happiness and companionship in his final years. It must be tough to be alone and old. I hope I don't find out.