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Friday, July 17, 2015

MY DEAR UNCLE JOE....

A FEW DAY AGO, THIS POST, BELOW WAS PUT ON FACEBOOK BY
MY COUSIN, HIS DAUGHTER, JOELYN.
MY FIRST COUSIN. NOW THAT I HAVE PERMISSION TO SHARE
THIS AND MY MEMORIES OF THIS SPECIAL MAN, I FIND MYSELF 
WITH SO MANY WONDERFUL MEMORIES...

Today makes 44 years my Dad went to Heaven & I miss him more than ever!!! I often wonder how having grandkids would have changed his life, I know they would of been crazy about him!!

IT IS HARD TO REMEMBER IF I HAVE BLOGGED ANY OF THIS BEFORE.
WHEN YOU HAVE A BLOG FOR OVER 8 YEARS, ITS HARD TO REMEMBER 
EXACTLY WHAT HAS BEEN BLOGGED ALREADY.
SO I WILL WRITE FROM MY HEART OF THIS MOST WONDERFUL MAN
WHO LEFT US WAY TOO SOON.
I was only 7 when he died.
It was a normal day for most, he left his wife, my Aunt Mae Mae
with their 6 children the youngest being still a baby and went
to make crew change, his job of the day.
No one would have ever thought it would be his last day
with all of us. A car accident took his life and yet,
this not what I want to be remembered.
I want to remember my Uncle Joe, the one who
visited us often, who brought his children to swim 
often. He loved "POTAT-A-TOO-FE-SEC"
Smothered potatoes with onions and corned beef.
I still can't eat this or cook it without a smile on my
face and memories of my Uncle Joe.
Funny the things we remember as a child. 
A soft spoken, funny and kind to children uncle, 
that is what he was to me.
The day he passed, I remember it so clearly even at 7.
This was on the days before cell phones, CB radios, etc.
My Mommy and Daddy had gone fishing and it
was a family joke that overtime mom went fishing with Dad
something bad happened. I understand now as an adult,
this was a family joke, each time Mom got in boat, the motor
broke or they didn't catch fish...
But to my 7 year old mind, on that fateful day that my Uncle Joe
died, as we waited my parents to return from fishing
to tell them the tragic news, I thought,
"IT's true, every time Mom goes fishing with Dad something
bad does happen" I remember hoping that Dad never
took Mom fishing again....
I hid when I saw Dad and Mom drove up.
I did not want to be witness to the sadness
my big sister was about to tell my parents.
And it was tragic...
We all changed that day, as we loved this man so much.
The true hero behind this tragedy, My Aunt Mae Mae,
she would not stay down long, believed she had kids
to raise and would do so and that she did. Alone, 
she raised 6 children, she is the hero.
So today, I pay tribute to my Uncle Joe.
Who, as a child, came to me often in dreams,
I always hoped he would come there, in my asleep 
hours. Sometimes I would awaken, still sleeping in 
my parents bedroom and ask for water. 
Dad or Mom would go to get my water and they would
return and I would share that I saw Uncle Joe,
he said he was happy. I can't remember what they said or
if they ever said anything but I know this,
This sweet man, he awaits us all in a place I choose to call
HEAVEN.

1 comment:

  1. Such a beautiful tribute to Uncle Joe!!!

    ReplyDelete