My Dear Uncle

I have been away for a bit dealing, my Uncle G passed away Friday, March 1^st.  To recap, he was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma back in November; the doctors had the cancer under control.  But in the midst of everything, he went in to the hospital just after Christmas as he was severely dehydrated.  While in the hospital, he developed phenomena, then a blood infection and finally he contracted C-Diff.  The C-Diff destroyed his colon and he underwent emergency surgery to have his colon removed.  He never regained consciousness .  He was relying 100% on life support and the doctors informed my Aunt and my cousins there was nothing left that they could try.  My Uncle’s wishes were that he did not want to remain on life support, so Friday in the morning, my Aunt and cousins were by his side as he passed. 

This has been a terrible time for our family.  I am fortunate in a way that I in my 31 years; I have not lost any of my family until now.  (My Dad’s parents had both passed before I was born.)  My Uncle was the first person to go from my Mom’s side, even before his parents.  My Grandparents have been very strong but it’s devastating for them, to watch them truly breaks my heart.  My Aunt and my Uncle were married for 36 years; my heart also breaks for her.  For not just the big stuff, but even the little things: to not have him to wake up beside, or to hold his hand, or to cook dinner together; I just can’t even imagine.   My cousins I cry for have lost their beloved father.  I can’t imagine losing one of my parents.  My Mom and her siblings, my heart also breaks for, they were all very close and where there were five, now four remain.  In some ways I feel guilty missing my Uncle as I know my other family members have had the opportunity to be even closer to him (parent, spouse, son, brother) and obviously they will miss him more.  Nevertheless, my Uncle was awesome, and I am not looking back with rose coloured glasses; he would do anything for anyone, he was a great family man and he could make a dog laugh. 

My Aunt and cousins arranged a beautiful funeral last Thursday.  My Uncle had requested a celebration of his life and I think his family did a beautiful job of achieving that.  His family and friends stood up to talk about him, some of the stories were touching, some of the stories made us laugh (He would have loved that!) and some stories made us very proud of how he helped others.  It was the saddest, hardest, most beautiful day I have ever experienced, it’s so weird to say it was beautiful, but it truly was.

I could not bring myself to say good-bye; I told him I will see ya later.  Which I will.  In the mean time, we will be sad he is not with us physically, but as my Aunt said, he will always be with us.

I want to say thank you so much for those who sent positive thoughts and prayers his way.