Jim Little

Sweet & Sour Uncle Jim Little

This is a love story that spans over a sixty-eight-year period. Some of this time was unrequited love for a painful twenty-eight years and also a happy time of reconciliation.. The main character of the story is Ralph H. Little (1908-1999).

He pursued the "Love of his life," Freda, for all of his adult live. A log house in the Oregon woods defines Ralph more than anything else in his life. He was told during the courtship of Freda that one condition of marriage was the building of a log house on her father's 180-acre, Oregon homestead.

Logs were cut by hand and hauled to the construction site by horses. The log house was built not only with hard work and sweat, by "Uncle" Ralph, but primarily with love for his beloved Freda.

Ralph suffered betrayal and the loss of Freda. After 28 dark and lonely years Freda returned after she suffered a betrayal in her life. There was a happy remarriage and almost immediately Freda suffered illness and became bed-ridden. Freda was expected to live for only six months. Ralph lived out his marriage vows by nursing Freda for 13 years beyond the time she was expected to live.

Following the death of Freda, Ralph began showing signs of dementia. He pleaded with his nephew and niece, who became his caregivers, to help him stay in his log house, for as long as possible. He often said, "I will have to be handcuffed to leave this house." Sadly it eventually came to pass that is exactly what happened.

This story is also about those, "sweet and sour times", and the resulting family relationships and legal issues often faced by caregivers.