Family

I went to my Uncle's funeral today.  It was expected but still hard to realize that I will not get to see him again until it's time for me to go home.  I loved him so much.  He was 88 years old and had been in failing health since he fell and broke his hip several years ago.  His elderly wife had gotten where she couldn't lift him anymore, so he convinced her to put him in the Veteran's center near their hometown.  He didn't like being there and wanted to go back home, but knew that was not an option at this point.  He was there for 3 months and never really adjusted.  He missed being at home with his things around him.  He was a faithful husband, a good father, a good man, and the provider for his family.  My sister and I spent most of our childhood at his house with his first wife who preceded him in death and his children.  My parents both worked.  My Aunt did not, so we spent a lot of time with them.  Our cousins were more like brothers and sister rather than cousins.  My first date was with my cousin and her boyfriend just before my sixteenth birthday.  I was not as impressed with my date as much as she was hers.  She later married her date.  I chose never to see mine again.  They had a goat they kept in the backyard.  We used the old washing machine where you put the clothes through a wringer which you operated by turning a handle to wring the clothes out.  We slept on a feather bed which was made from the feathers of the chickens they raised.  We had fresh eggs every morning.  We ate mayonaise and crackers (remember when they came in a big square that broke into four pieces?) for snacks.  My Aunt made the best caramel cake with caramel icing.  They heated with a stove in the living room that burned coal.  My Uncle would get up early in the morning to start the fire so the room would be warm when we got up.  We also cooked on that stove sometimes.  I used to love to shake the ashes down, scoop them up, and put them in the bucket to take outside.  I also liked to put the coal in to burn which was always done under strict supervision.  I don't ever remember getting hurt at his house.  I remember covering the leftover food after a meal with a table cloth which was removed at the next meal.  We hardly ever got sick.  Imagine that.  He always treated me as if I was one of his own.  He had so much love to give and gave it freely.  He was my mother's brother.  I could see so much of my mother in him today.  He was a quiet man and always had a kind word for anyone he came in contact with.  He loved to fish in Reelfoot Lake.  It was a sad day when the time came that he could not do that anymore.  He had always been so active and never missed a day at work.  One of his sons hadn't seen or talked to him in over 20 years.  He did not come to the funeral today either.  He got mad at his dad because he married again several years after his first wife died.  He married a wonderful woman who was good to him and took very good care of him.  She got him back into church, and he was saved.  I had wondered about that all the way to the funeral today, because I didn't know if he was saved or not.  What joy I felt in my heart when I found out that he would walk with God and would see my mother again.  As I walked by the casket for the last time, I bent over and kissed him on his forehead and gave him a gentle touch to his forehead.  I could feel the peace that had come over him.  He had finally gotten what he had been praying for.  He was finally home.  I love you, Uncle Charles.  You will always have that special place in my heart.  Thank you for all the wonderful memories you have given to me and my family.  You may be gone, but you will never be forgotten.