Uncle Invisible

I was just loading up a wagon at work and my uncle was at the garage me t door. He's in the auto trade and uses them in some way regularly. He stopped me and said hello as we sometimes do. Generally once every four months or so we will wade through a two and a half minute conversation and then eagerly scurry away before it gets too awkward for either person. 

When I was 12/13 and below, my mum and I would see lots of her brother and his wife and sons. But some family argument interrupted their contact and from then on my uncle never really acted like an uncle anymore. The strange part is he had been in side with my mum as they fell out with a completely different sibling, so it made little sense that he would become distant. 

It's true that I've always held some form resentment for family who have become invisible in my life as I grew up. 

Family who you NEVER see are no longer family to me. Family are people who interact with you every so often. Even if its every three years or so. They are still relevant if contact is renewed at some point. 

Today, for the first time , my uncle brought out his mobile and asked for my mobile number. I played along and gave it to him. Luckily I gave him my genuine one as he rang it so that his would appear in my phone (and also, no doubt, to see whether I'd given him the real one). 

I left him after a full four minutes saying "Well , I might hear from you then"

I hope I do in some form although its more expected that I will simply never hear from him at all. 

Just for the record, when I moved out of my mothers and I to my first house near my uncle and aunt, I actually contacted him and went for a drink with him. I imagined it would lead to a casual family friendship which would strengthen our bond over the years. 

But actually in the intervening 18 years, it never happened again. 

Actually it may be that I'm to be at my sisters wedding with him this year and he is desperate to have someone to talk to.