Herbie - Herbert Springer was his full name - ran a store in Brooklyn with TB's Aunt Edie. Before that, he was a New York City cab driver. He also fought in World War II, in Europe and the Pacific.
In the summers, he and Aunt Edie had a bungalow in the Rockaways, and he'd sit outside in his sailor's cap, playing Pinochle with his friends. TigerBlog couldn't understand the game, or, for that matter, even understand the 48-card deck.
Herbie would pause for few things when he played, but one of them would be to make his nephew a bagel, with butter on one side and lox on the other. Then it was back to the game.
His apartment in Brooklyn was on Ocean Ave., 1947 Ocean Ave., to be exact. TB spent more than one Thanksgiving there.
As TB types this, he can still see his uncle and his unshaven face, his unkempt hair, always covered by the sailor's hat. He can hear his voice, his deep, gravelly New York City voice.
It's been exactly 40 years since Herbert Springer passed away, at the age of only 53. It's weird for TigerBlog to think that he's older now than his uncle was when he died.
He died over Thanksgiving in 1977. Edie would live to 85 before she died a few years ago.
TigerBlog was still a kid when his uncle died. Even all these years later, he remains one of TB's favorite all-time people, and his memories of his time with his uncle are among his best.
His grave has his name - "Herbert Springer" - and then this: "Everyone's Friend." It is so true.
TigerBlog wrote this about his uncle once:
To be around Herbie Springer was to laugh, to carry on, to have a good time. He had friends, sure, but he was also the kind to make friends with everyone he encountered - strangers on the street, people who wandered into his store, friends of his nephew.
He had a huge personality, maybe a bit larger than life. It's just that his life didn't last as long as it should have.
TigerBlog wanted to mention his uncle on the 40th anniversary of his passing. He does so with a mix of sadness coupled with a smile at a reminder of who his uncle was and the good times he spent with him.
TigerBlog also wants to say what he's written every Thanksgiving since he's been doing this, and here it is:
As holidays go, you can't do much better than Thanksgiving. It's got it all, really: a huge meal (with turkey, no less), football, family, history (dates back to 1621), start of a four-day weekend for most people, leftovers. It's even a secular holiday, so every American can dive right in, regardless of religion.
The Lions and the Cowboys, obviously, always play at home on Thanksgiving, and the NFL has now added a third game (maybe a little too much). Beyond watching football, how many out there have played their own Thanksgiving football games, all of which, by the way, are named "the Turkey Bowl?"
The holiday may lag behind Christmas in terms of great Hollywood movies, and "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" is no match for "A Charlie Brown Christmas" or "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." Still, there are some great moments in movies and TV shows around Thanksgiving.
Rocky and Adrian had their first date on Thanksgiving – "To you it's Thanksgiving; to me it's Thursday," Rocky said romantically – as did Meadow and Jackie Jr. on "The Sopranos" (it didn't quite work out as well as it did for Rocky and Adrian). "Everybody Loves Raymond" had two pretty good Thanksgiving episodes, the one where Marie makes a low-fat dinner and the one where Debra makes fish instead of turkey. As an aside, TigerBlog's Aunt Regina once made Cornish game hens instead of turkey, so he knows how they all felt. And of course, there was the Thanksgiving episode of "Cheers," which has the big food fight at the end.
The Woody Allen movie "Hannah and Her Sisters" starts and ends on two different Thanksgivings. "Miracle on 34th Street" is a Christmas movie, but it does start with the Thanksgiving parade in New York City.
And of course, there is the best of all Thanksgiving movies: "Planes, Trains and Automobiles." It'll make you laugh a lot and cry a little, and it ends on Thanksgiving.
Princeton Athletics has some good events between now and the end of the weekend.
You have a choice tonight if you'd like to go to a game in Princeton, as the men's basketball team is home against Lafayette and the men's hockey team is home against Bemidji State. Both start at 7.
The second game of the Princeton-Bemidji State series will be Friday night. The men's basketball team is on the road Sunday, but it's not that far - just up to FDU, for a 2 p.m. tip.
There is also a two-game women's hockey trip to Merrimack (Friday and Saturday) and a women's basketball game at Davidson Saturday at 1.
And of course there is the NCAA women's soccer quarterfinal game Saturday between Princeton and UCLA in California. That game starts at 5:30 local time, so 8:30 in the East.
Princeton, of course, is coming off the huge win over North Carolina, the top seed in the region, in last Sunday's Round of 16 game.
Mostly, though, it's Thanksgiving that occupies most people's time right about now.
It's turkey and football and fun and all that. At its core, though, it's the giving of thanks, right? So be thankful for what - and especially who - is really important to you.
And remember those, like TB's Uncle Herbie, who are no longer here to celebrate the day.
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