October 17, 2009

David Judge is Gene's nephew by marriage.  His mother is Emily's baby sister, Joyce.  Like many of the nieces and nephews, Gene and David had a mutual admiration for one another.  Last year, David took Gene to New Orleans to the World War II museum. He also spoke to David's Lion's club group.  It was such a great adventure for Gene and he talked about it often.  David remembered that "...Uncle Gene had a way of putting a person at ease.  I will always remember the way he could tell a story that would have him and the people around him burst into laughter."  Here's one of the stories David remembers him telling.

He started by saying he was wih a couple of other boys in Kentucky looking for something to do.  I suppose he was about ten years old.  They were near the dairy and one of the men saw them out back and told them to wait right there, he had something for them.  He brought out a huge container of ice cream and three spoons.  The boys didn't know what they had done to deserve such a treat, but their eyes were wide with the anticipation of enjoying it, and there were smiles all around.  As they dug into the frozen treat they got to eating so fast that Gene began to get a "brain freeze."  He said that he started to lose his vision in both eyes.  At that point he exclaimed to the others, "Dont' eat any more of this stuff!  It'll make you go blind!