insanity is all of us.

i have an uncle - my mom big brother - who is mentally ill. he was fine before he knocked his head on something hard years ago in a road accident. he had a wife, a daughter - but they left; the wife got remarried a few times (i heard). he is now living with my grandmother and he is the funniest uncle i've ever had, literally.

it was just a random thought of him - that got me here, writing about him. i'm not really sure what is it to write about my 'crazy' uncle who had once thrown three good punches at me in the nose, and left me with blue-black nose for days. he was scary when he missed taking pills - he would randomly attacked anyone, and yelled stuff that we couldn't understand. i remember once he had chase my pregnant aunt down the street. if the scene were from a movie, i would think that it was funny - but it was really horrifying.

"he used to be really good looking. girls swarmed over him...", they said, many times. 

he's not scary anymore, he's just funny. he works at a nearby thrift store now because he needs the money to buy cigarettes - my grandmother wouldn't give him money some times. he would come home wearing clothes he 'thrift-ed' from the store. "these are pretty cheap actually - staff discount!" he declared when i asked. the mustard colored corduroy khaki pants caught my eyes that day, so i had to ask. he was pairing them with a tucked in stripey blue shirt. he looked like one of those stylish parisian men - a really out of shape one that is.

i don't know why i'm writing about him but like all the posts i wrote, i want to remember. i want to remember him. people cared for him when he was the popular kid but they left when he needed them the most - they never look back. not even the daughter he often talked about, not even her. i can't say i was there all the time, or that i will be there when he'll need me - but i know he deserves as much attention, if not more. i feel sorry we didn't include him in family gatherings, most of the time - we should. 

in the midst of our party laughter, we forgot important things; we forgot important people - and in this case we'd forgotten family. i can't point my finger because i, too, am ignorant.

"hey you cut your hair - playboy style..." he said. 
i looked up at him, "what playboy style?"
"your hair. i used to have the same hair style too. now i'm just bald..." he played with his bald head - looking all too innocent.
"tomboy you mean?" someone interrupted.
"yeah yeah tomboy. i couldn't find the word, not playboy. tomboy!" we all laughed at this. he continued, "i'm sorry about that. i'd gotten into upper 6, and that was it. my education background isn't impressive."
"upper 6 is impressive...," someone said.
"nah i don't think so..." i heard him say before he walked away.