January 24, 2011

• birthday in black

   It seems that great sadness follows so closely on the heels of happiness lately.  The day after my friend's wedding celebration my grandma died.  Saturday while I was jumping around at the Girl Talk concert my Uncle Carl quickly and quietly slipped away under the careful watch of a hospice nurse.  By the time family arrived, he was already gone.  By the time I was at the bar and looked at my phone, it was already too late to call anyone.

  My Uncle's battle with MS was long and slow, but ended when he was 72 years old.  He is survived by his three siblings, 5 children, grandchildren and even great grand children.  Because he had the most kids who all stayed in the area and were very prodigious themselves, I've always thought of him as the patriarch of the family.  Almost all the cousins and 2nd cousins I'm always going on about are his lineage.  He was a caring, cheerful guy who liked to laugh and always had a smile and a kind word for my brother and I.  I remember spending many Sunday afternoons playing in his garden or hanging out at his house. 

  Its nice to know that his fight with his body is over and that he is no longer constricted or in pain.  It is sad that he left.  It is sad that he had to linger on so long and deal with that terrible, terrible disease.  It is sad to think how my Dad must feel having lost his brother.

  Tomorrow is the 3 month anniversary of my grandmother's death.  I've finally been able to delete her old number from my phone and cancel her Netflix account.  I wonder when I will forget to mark time in the 25ths of the month?  Tomorrow is also the day I will fly home and go to my Uncle's viewing. 

  Now, for the first time in a very, very long time there is no one in any institution to visit; no nursing homes, no living centers, no jails, no rehab facilities.  Gotta cherish this while it lasts.
  

  • 4:42 pm
  • 2 Comments