Attended my uncle’s funeral this evening. He was a highly decorated army veteran and a US postal worker. I’ve been reflecting on how little I feel like I actually knew him, yet how familiar he was to me. Not sure if that makes sense.

He was a jolly guy, in kind of a sneaky way - a good listener, with a glisten of youthful mischief.

He made Christmas calendars for us with our pictures on our birthdays. We would laugh sometimes at the pictures he chose to represent each of us because they were not always the most flattering, but I think he intended to make us laugh at ourselves.

He brought a Nintendo64 with Donkey Kong to my grandparents’ house for me and my cousins to have something to do while the old folks gabbed.

He was married to my aunt for 53 of his 77 years, and I never remember seeing them apart. In the end, he passed in her arms. I felt his presence so clearly by her side tonight that it was as if he was right there.

Rest in power, Uncle Jim.

#eulogy #griefstr