The Trouble With Brothers

All you old timers can relate to this story. It happened over the Fourth of July weekend in 1968, and I witnessed it.

Our family all converged at my grandmother's house every Fourth of July. Relatives from California to New York, Michigan to Florida came to visit. My father was the oldest of seven children. His younger brother, Uncle Tuggy, lived in North Dakota and was an avid golfer. On Saturday, all the golfers set out to the public course. The big foursome consisted of My father, Uncle Tuggy, Their youngest brother, Uncle Gene, and their brother-in-law, Uncle Beecher.
My father had only been playing the game for about four years, while the other three were veterans of the game. In the past years, Dad had beaten Uncle Gene and Uncle Beecher, and now he had his hat set to beat Uncle Tuggy.
What Dad didn't realize was Uncle Tuggy had played in tournaments for years and was a great golfer. For all his efforts, Dad came in second at the end of the day. It really got to him. Somehow, the two brothers got into a discussion about how to pick watermelons. Why it happened is a question forever unanswered.
The two brothers went to the local A&P Food Store and they each picked out a melon. After dinner that evening, with all the rest of the family watching, they sliced up their two melons and offered everyone a piece; asking each relative which was better. Nobody wanted to offend either one, so it was declared a tie.
My father and uncle are gone now. But their legacy of watermelons lives on.