Remembering Max Leonard by Dr. Leo D. Leonard

                One of my earliest memories is of my Uncle Max. We were living at 1773 Michigan Avenue in Salt Lake City. I remember my father, Leo Bradford Leonard, throwing me up in the air and then catching me.  I remember this was not the first time my father had played that game of throwing me above his head then catching me on the way down.  Each time he threw me, I was terrified and filled with rage.  Oh, how I hated that game!

                This particular day, Grandmother and Grandfather Leonard were visiting from Price, Utah.  They came into the front room, followed by Uncle Max.  Zoe Ellen told my father to stop throwing me.  Max walked over and caught me on the way down from one of my father’s tosses, held me in his arms and settled me down.  I think that must have been the time when Max became my favorite Uncle.

                Max’s big hug and soft words were most comforting.  During my visit with Max in December of 2002 in Palm Desert, he confirmed that the event had indeed happened, so it wasn’t my imagination.  We left our home in Michigan Avenue in 1940 to move to Fort Ord, CA; so it was either in 1940 or late 1939 that this event had taken place.