An Unforgettable Character II
Both my parents came from large families. On my father’s side, he had 5 brothers and 1 sister. Dr. William Berson (who I knew simply as uncle Willie) was the oldest. My Uncle came to this country as a teenager. He spoke no English, my grandparents were farmers. Somehow, he learned English and when he graduated high school he was accepted to Medical School. He became and Ears, Nose and Throat Doc, and then a Plastic Surgeon.
My uncle used to entertain me. He lived in a large apartment in Brooklyn, that had the main entrance on the street rather than through the apartment lobby, he lived in half of the place and made his medical office in the other half, In the back of the row of examining rooms, there was an operating room. He had a nurse who assisted him with his surgeries. My uncle took out my tonsils when I was 3. I remember having my dad, who assisted that day, place a rag with something on it over my face. It was a good thing it was dad, because I would have fought anyone else. When I came to, I was in one of the little rooms in a bed, My throat hurt and the promised ice cream wasn’t there. When I was a little older, my sister decided to have her ears pierced. She took me with her to the office and pushed me in first. I had no idea I was about to get my ears pierced! Since I didn’t even squeal, when the earring was placed in my ear, my sister sat down and thought the procedure was horrible.
In the waiting room Uncle Willy had an old, huge and heavy Steinway piano. He loved music, and preferred to play the violin. I used to play that piano all the time. There was something about it that made it special to me. Today that piano sits in my sons house. Sadly, no one plays it.
As Uncle Willy aged, he became more of a recluse. He apparently had money to stay in the apartment but he stopped his marathon Saturday morning tonsillectomies. If the people who came with their children had no money to pay, he asked them to bring him a chicken dinner. He even repared a woman’s face who was in a car accident in front of his building for free! He was very eccentric. The nurse that had assisted him all those years, was in love with him. Finally, he asked her to marry him. One problem, he neglected to tell his fiance that he was previously married but never got a divorce. Even though they could not locate his former wife, the state would not give them a wedding license. So after all those years, she left! Too bad, I liked her.
He also, with his love for music bought a very expensive violin. He played in a Doctor’s Orchestra that performed in Staten Island. He developed Dementia when he was much older, and my father, the next to the youngest brother brought him down to Florida. He was placed in a nursing home facility. He was not happy and didn’t want to go. We had to sell the violin to keep him in the facility. Finally my dad told him that he wasn’t a patient, he was the Doctor and these people were under his care. That changed his attitude. Every night, before he would retire to bed, Uncle Willy went on rounds to look in on his patients. One particular night he heard a woman in distress, she was having trouble breathing. He pulled the alarm in her room and started to treat her. By the time the staff got there, he had the situation under control, and demanded to see her chart. In his mind, he saved his patient, and he probably did. He couldn’t remember what he ate for dinner, but he remembered everything he new relating to medicine ! He was nutty, but lovable and most definitely my favorite Uncle.
