183. The Brain Surgeon

This Okay listener spent many years of her life convinced her uncle was a brain surgeon — only for her to realize he wasn’t.

Transcripts may not appear in their final version and are subject to change.

INTRO MUSIC

I’m Nora McInerny, and it’s going to be okay.  This show is a group project where our team and you, our listeners, share a little thing, an okay thing, something that makes us feel happyish even when everything else feels kind of terrible. 

Okay Caller: On your recent episode of The Rhyme Crime, it’s going to be okay. You told about  jokes that have been played on you and that you believed and I instantly thought of one that has pervaded my entire life and thought I have to send it in to you.  When I was about three or four years old, I remember sitting on the dining table while my mom fixed my hair and an episode of Sesame Street or Mr. Rogers Neighborhood was on and they were showing how they make paper at a paper mill and my mom said That’s what your uncle Larry does and I said no it isn’t  and she said yes it is And I said, no, it isn’t.  And she said, what do you think your uncle Larry does?  And I said, he’s a brain surgeon.  And she said, who told you that?

And I said, Uncle Larry.  So that became the big family joke. Um, my entire life was that I believed that my Uncle Larry was a brain surgeon. And it really became this very affectionate thing between me and my uncle. Um, every time he saw me, um, he would say, you know, you’re all brain surgeon uncles here. Or he’d call the house and say, Hey, it’s your brain surgeon uncle.

Can I talk to your mom? Things like that. And so, uh, boyfriends that I had knew about it. My husband now, you know, still likes to kid me about it. My kids know, um, at my wedding, of course he had to make a big thing about that he was my brain surgeon uncle. Um, and last year at my mom’s memorial service, as his wife willed him in.

to the church, and I went up and hugged him. Um, he’s now suffering from Parkinson’s disease and dementia. But he still remembered and said, Don’t worry, your old brain surgeon uncle’s here.  And so, it’s really this sweet, affectionate thing that’s, that’s been between us, but every family member knows and likes to still kid me about it.

And, of course, I’m like, Hey, I was like three years old. How was I supposed to know? I just believed what my uncle told me. And so, but it’s, it’s been a sweet, uh, fun joke that has run between us. 

OUTRO MUSIC

CREDITS