CNJ+ February 2025

CHILD, ADOLESCENT & ADULT PSYCHIATRIST The Red Barn: Chapter Six FAREWELL THY BELOVED UNCLE AND AUNT By Richard Mabey Jr.

In the very early morning of Monday, June thirteenth of 1983, we all gathered around Uncle Ed and Aunt Joy’s Ford Country Se dan Station Wagon. My mom and dad, and my sister and I, had just helped Uncle Ed and Aunt Joy bring out the last few boxes of their things from the Little House to their station wagon. The Little House once stood at the corner of Mabey Lane and Main Street. It was one of the few times that I remember seeing my father cry. Uncle Ed and Aunt Joy, our dear relatives and neighbors for over a decade, were really leaving. Aunt Joy’s mother was very ill at her home in Henderson, Nevada. There was a certain calling that my Aunt Joy felt, a need to care for her elderly mother. We all hugged Uncle Ed and Aunt Joy. We all cried as they got into their dear old station wagon. Uncle Ed flipped the ignition key. They slowly drove from the driveway to Mabey Lane, made the left turn onto Mabey Lane, then made a right turn onto Main Street. I remember glancing at my watch. It was about six o’clock in the morning. Uncle Ed and Aunt Joy had really left us. The Little House was now totally empty. I looked out to the little barn that Dad, Uncle Ed and I had built the week before. It was now complete. There was just one more big job to be done. The new barn needed to be painted. We all went into the old Mabey Homestead, which was just a few yards from the Little House. We quietly, somberly ate breakfast. After breakfast Dad left

609.245.8550 WWW.GSINGHMD.COM evaporated into the ethers. Little did I know, as the sun rose in the east, that in just a couple of hours, my life was going to take a new turn. From which, I would never be the same. To be continued next issue. Richard Mabey Jr. is a freelance writer. He hosts a YouTube Channel ti tled, “Richard Mabey Presents.” Richard most recently published a book of poetry and short stories. He can be reached at richardmabeyjr@gmail.com. INDIVIDUALIZED CARE EXTENDED SESSIONS DOUBLE BOARD CERTIFIED for work. I still had one more week off from job as a proofreader at Oral-B Toothbrush Company. As Dad stood by the kitchen door, to go to the outdoor porch, he held the door handle and looked at us all, with a certain sadness, as we sat at the kitchen table. “Richie, those three gallons of red paint we bought Saturday, should do the job,” Dad said with a quiver in his voice. “I’ll do my best, Dad,” I replied. Then Dad quietly left. As the sun rose, I began painting the little barn. I remember that there was such an empty, hollow, somber feeling in the air. I looked up to the Little House. I couldn’t hold back my tears. Uncle Ed and Aunt Joy were now really gone. Somehow, the joy and splendor and wonder that filled the air last week, when Dad, Uncle Ed and I worked so hard building the little barn, had now Appointments in Freehold & Monroe Twp.

My late, beloved uncle and aunt; Edward and Marjorie Mabey.

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