"If I have a little brother for you, will you take care of him?"

"If I have a little brother for you, will you take care of him?"

Andrew Slack, age 16

This was a question to which 10 year old Andrew Slack, enthusiastically said "YES!" So on June 1, 1935, he anxiously met his new charge, Jonathan Lee Slack. Little did anyone know how seriously he took this challenge.

....and no one will ever know the weariness of the asker, Ruth Slack, his mother. This was child #5 and smack in the middle of The Great Depression. Her husband, Cornelius Slack, was a hard worker but was crippled by a disease that kept him bedridden for many years. When he could walk, he would go door to door and sell homemade bookmarks with Bible verses stamped on them.

So from the time he was a newborn baby, my father, Andy, knew it was his responsibility to take care of his baby brother....and he did. Even into adulthood and old age, Andy felt that responsibility that had turned into deep brotherly and almost fatherly love. My Uncle Jonny was a daily household word and his name was certainly brought before God as I would hear my dad praying in his room.

Uncle Jonny - 10 years old

I love my Uncle Jonny and wish I could spend just one more time with him when he could remember... but Alzheimer's has stolen so much that it can no longer happen.

Thank you Dad for taking good care of your brother....and your family. I love and miss you every day....even ten years later.