My dad comes from a family of 6 boys. Having just two boys of my own who push me beyond my limits on a daily basis, I wonder how my Grandma handled six. Not only did she handle them well, they grew into kind, caring, polite men who adored and waited on her. I'm hoping some secret my Grandmother held will pass down the gene pool into me and, by some miracle, I will be blessed with sons who will be devoted to me later in life as well.
Of the six families on my dad's side, it ended up that three families were close to each other and the other three were close to each other. Our "group" included the families of Uncle J, Uncle P and Uncle T.
Lately, my sister and I have been talking a lot about Uncle T's family. We're trying to fill in the vague details that our childhood memories have left us.
My Uncle T's family lived on the northwest side of Chicago. Chicago was not a good place to raise kids in 1968 and, after the riots, my uncle decided to take his family and move them to a safer, more peaceful place. He loved the outdoors so they chose Colorado.
When they were gone, we missed them terribly.
The following is part of a recent email from my aunt...
Did you know that we were soooo lonesome at Christmas because we were so far away from everyone? After dinner on Christmas Eve, we opened our wrapped gifts, those not from Santa. There weren't too many. All of the sudden the doorbell rang.
Do you know what it was?
The post man coming with a big box of Christmas gifts for us.....from your family....
We were sooo excited! The timing was just perfect. We did feel the love of you all at that time when we were so lonesome and blue....
Uncle T and I will never forget it....
My sister and I were so touched by my mother's kind gesture, one we had never known about.
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I found out last week that my Uncle T is dying.
He doesn't have much more time left here on earth.
I don't know what I can say to do this man justice. He is undoubtedly my favorite relative. He and my aunt are a couple whom I've always admired.
My Uncle T is a very spiritual person.
He is a fair and just person.
He is free with his emotions.
He has always shared a sincere interest in the lives of my family.
He is blessed with the love of a large family and many, many friends.
My Uncle T will be the first to go of the six brothers. I've wondered about this time most of my life, imaging the loss of one of them being so hard.
Losing him will be nearly unbearable.
He's had a long, good life.
He's lived it well.
5 comments:
Sounds like a wonderful family. Sorry to hear that he isn't well, my prayers will be with Uncle T.
I recently went through this same thing. The thought process is deep, thinking about the family structure, as it is slowly dissapearing one person at a time. It's sad, but knowing they had a long happy life does help.
I'm sorry to hear about your Uncle. I lost one of my Uncles just this past year : -(
I'm sorry about Uncle T. He sounds like a great man. I always say that if I can be 1/2 the man my dad is I'll do ok in life. I also have 2 boys 16 months apart and the challenge is overwheling to me most days. It's rough I tell ya!
I'm so sorry to hear about your uncle. :(
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