The Best Guy I Know

When Uncle George calls, it's always worth picking up

- Tommy Marcus

MY UNCLE GEORGE lives in a home with a few other people like him. He enjoys a simple life—no smartphones, no internet—so communication is limited to in-person and old-school landline phone calls. He has a girlfriend, Carol, and they get married about once every two weeks. He tells me she thinks I’m handsome, and I tell him to tell her “thank you.” It’s not clear whether Carol exists.

My uncle and I have always shared a special bond—and my middle name, George, is a point of pride. Still, when I was around 5 years old, I asked my parents what was wrong with him. (I was 5, OK? Delicacy wasn’t my strong suit.) Anyway, they said nothing was “wrong” with him exactly, but that Uncle George was mentally disabled.