All in a day from a place in time....

I had heard that my uncle was on his last a little while ago. This made me decide to go sleep at the old mans house, because of the feeling of hopelessness that was cast out upon our family in the last and latest news of my uncles condition. He was 89, and lived a wonderful life. He was part of the Greatest generation, the soldiers that fought against Nazi Germany for the liberation of Europe.

Visiting the region every summer, he spent 3 to 4 months with us. It was sad to see him leave in the early fall, but he had his close family in his own province to attend to as well. We were very lucky to have spent the time with him and his family when they did make a trip down to New Brunswick every year.

My uncle was the type who would look for jobs to do. He had to have something to do. His closest friends always had another project on the go. Roofing, decks, interiors, plumbing, you name it. They would just all get together to complete the challenges or tasks at hand. And they would not want any money in return. There was always an ample supply of beer, at the ready, though. This helping your neighbors, friends, in getting jobs done without requesting any pay was a special time in my youth. There was definitely, and to this day, still exists something very special about it.

Well, the man who said "We can do that", "That is so easy to do", "Wait till tomorrow we can fix it", has now left us.  I admired him because he worked hard for what he had. He had a new car every 3 or 4 years. He went to church every Sunday, yet he accepted both sinner and the faithful alike. He treated everyone, no matter what their backgrounds, as equal.

Well, last night he passed on. I heard the news at 11 am. I went to see a cousin, who did not hear the news. I did tear up in the few minutes, then forcefully shrugged it off. Unlike my old man, you could rarely see a tear come from his eyes during any close relatives funeral.  This time was no exception. When talking about his brother, he talked about it casually as the events had happened just yesterday. I wish I was like the old man, but as my cousin had said, he is just holding it up inside.

This day also, a woman that I had rarely seen for many months on time, congratulated me on a son. I thanked her, and she gave me some knitted clothes for him to wear. I thought about the extreme time she put in to do the work, but I felt to insult her to refuse to take her gifts. She was not related to me in anyway, but she heard about my story of hardship in the past 2 years. The knitting consisted of woolen mitts, hat, pants, and a jacket. Very beautifully and spectacularly done, in white and green colors. I could see no errors in the work, and was much amazed at her craft. This was on the same day my Uncle passed away.

I went to the local grocery store near my fathers. This was just this afternoon, the same day of my Uncles passing. On exiting, there were someone there who was asking for a donation to the cancer society. There, was some beautiful yellow daffodil flowers for sale. Somehow, they reminded me of golden summers spent somewhere in an eternity that I will never forget, with my Uncle. I bought a group, placed them on my Fathers table.

Till next time..

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