Louie left always marked the beginning of the holiday season in our house.  The next day mom and I would start decorating for Christmas while dad would recover from a week of binge drinking.

Uncle Louie preferred Canadian whiskey because the Canadians were very good to his friends during Prohibition.  Out of respect he drank nothing but Canadian whiskey, American beer and every now and then he would insist that they switch over to smuggled Cuban rum. The Cuban rum had something to do with the old days, gun running, politics, gambling and longtime unpayable debts to some of his friends from New York.  

Outside in the chilly November air Uncle Louie popped the trunk of his car stuffed with glass gallon milk jugs of, “… the real Cuban shit brought in only last week....

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