Hank

Hank Marvin was Jeff Lyon's great uncle and his grandmother Stella's twin brother. Hank and Stella lived in the small town of Willow Springs, Missouri where they were born in a small house across from the Baptist Church Jeff's grandparents attended until they passed.

As a boy growing up in Irving, Texas the tiny hamlet in the Ozarks where Hank lived on a hardscrabble 80-acre spread was fascinating. The holiday visits to Jeff's grandparents' home in "Willa" were fun and festive, but the time spent during the summer when Jeff and his siblings were handed off to his grandparents to give his own parents a break from raising four kids were priceless memories.

Why Hank chose Jeff to accompany him on fishing trips, rock hunts, hunting excursions and daily errands over his siblings was never explained. The two girls and younger brother were usually left to amuse themselves at grandma's, while Jeff joined Hank in what the growing boy considered high adventures.

Hank had been a decorated soldier in WWII, a train-riding hobo during the Great Depression, and entrepreneur on his rocky farm searching for ways to scratch out a living. His hard-earned wisdom and common sense were imparted to Jeff through "stealth advice" embedded in humorous tales about his kinfolk and two sons. Jeff Lyon absorbed much of his laughter-laced storytelling from Hank's tales and "Show-Me-State" relatives.

Hank is a heart-warming and rib-tickling story about the love and hillbilly wisdom shared with his grand nephew. Jeff Lyon passes on the lessons and laughs from a young age until attending Hank and Stella's funerals. Everyone should be so lucky as to have a Hank influencing their lives and a chance to experience the beauty of the Missouri Ozarks.