December 24, 2019
My Uncle Bob died a year and a half ago. He was kind and generous, the kind of guy that everybody loved. Nobody ever said anything bad about Uncle Bob because there was nothing bad to say about him.
He was funny and had a contagious laugh that made everyone around him laugh with him. And boy did he like to tell stories, and even though everybody had heard his stories before, the way he told them left everybody laughing so hard their sides hurt and they had tears in their eyes. The stories usually revolved around something a family member had done and with each retelling the stories grew, they grew more outrageous, more unbelievable, more hysterical. He would wave his arms around wildly, and his voice would rise and fall in dramatic effect, sometimes he would even come out of his chair at critical points of the story. Like I said, you couldn’t help but laugh even though you knew the story and how it ended.
Holidays and family gatherings have a little less laughter without Uncle Bob around.
Besides making people laugh, Uncle Bob loved a couple of other things, Christmas, especially Christmas decorations and sports, especially baseball. His house was that one house that every neighborhood has. You know, the one with ALL the lights and decorations. And of course he couldn’t have just one Christmas tree, he always had multiple trees. He even had a tree in the basement and on that tree were all his sports Christmas ornaments, ornaments commemorating championships, favorite teams and players.
At his funeral my Aunt brought all these sports ornaments and she made a simple request….take an ornament with you to remember Uncle Bob and hang it on your tree each year. It was brilliant, what a great way to remember Uncle Bob.
I let my son pick out the ornament, and since he loves the Chicago Cubs he picked out a Sammy Sosa ornament. And even though we have WAY TOO many Christmas ornaments on our tree, in fact we could probably get a second tree and easily fill that, there’s always room right at the front, just about eye level for a new ornament…a Chicago Cubs, Sammy Sosa.
Two thoughts….
Amidst all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, the shopping, the wrapping, the presents, the cooking and eating, take a moment to reflect and remember the people who are no longer with you and perhaps remember them in some unique way.
One of the greatest gifts you can give is to make someone else laugh…
Peace
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