I'm sure that most of Uncle Robbie's family knows this story but perhaps some of you don't. It is a memory I have that was a story told by my father, his youngest brother Norman. It makes me think about how even as a young man, Uncle Robbie had a presence and his presence influenced people. This story depicts a brother who knew he could make his younger brothers pretty much do "whatever" he wanted LOL. It is shared with a smile and the sentiment that anyone who has had siblings growing up can appreciate and laugh about because these are types of things that happen in every family...this Uncle Robbie story/memory... So I'm not sure of the year (perhaps Aunt Mildred, Uncle Milton or Uncle Tommy can chime in here) but I'm going to guess around 1946-1947, because I'm thinking my Dad was about 8 or 9. Pa Jim and Grandma Ethel had gone to the market to sell some of their goods and bring home supplies for the family as they often did together. At home I believe at the time and prey to their own imaginations were the "three cockroaches" (Robbie, Tommy and Norman) as they were commonly called by their older sisters. They were bored to tears apparently because Uncle Robbie had an idea that involved a match, his brother's and a haystack. So the three of them found themselves in Pa Jims's barn with ALL the hay needed for the farm to be the farm (bedding for the animals, food...whatever else farmer's used hay for) but seriously that hay was THE HAY pretty much for all intents and purposes and along with that in the barn were some of the farm animals. Uncle Robbie said to Uncle Tommy and my Dad, Norman..."Okay here's what we are going to do, I'm going to light this little area over here and when it starts to burn you two wave your hands like this...to blow it the fire out" (The visual my Dad often created was sort of the motion that someone would make when bowing down sitting on ones feet with hands outstretched in an act of submission before a king or queen) LOL..so Uncle Robbie lite the small area of hay and the second he did according to the way my Dad told the story he and Uncle Tommy prepared to "wave" their arms saw the flames shoot up straight into the air...there was to be no arm waving that day. The fire sprung up in front of three of them like a geyser in Yosemite Park, shooting flames high over the heads to the top of the barn. The three of them scrambled to find something to put the fire out with. I think at one point my Dad said they grabbed a water can you know the kind with the six holes in it that is great for watering tulips, well that's what they used, and unfortunately for the three of them the water spigot was around on the other side of the house so they had to run a distance to get to the water. As I remember my Dad telling it, Pa Jim and Grandma Ethel came home from their shopping trip with fire trucks lining their driveway and the barn alas burned to the ground. The way my Dad told the story to my sisters and I (being the baby boy of the Edmonds clan)was that it was Robbie's idea and he and Tommy pretty much then and always did EXACTLY what he said to do or face being beat to a pulp (fact or fiction that's how I remember it). There are COUNTLESS stories of the Edmonds boys getting into trouble. This is just one crazy story that I was told about them as a kid myself. The other I remember was about the story of William Tell, an apple, a stocking and a bow and arrow in the back yard...does anyone remember that one? Uncle Robbie to me was an AWESOME presence. When I would tell my friends about my family I remember depicting one of my uncles as sort of an Andre the Giant, fearless, awesome and strong THAT was how I always saw him and how I will remember him. Of course, he was a kind gentle person and the sweetest uncle any girl could of had. I love you Uncle Robbie. Your Niece Suzanne Edmonds-Grinage