that I have been MIA for the last week or so. My sweet Uncle Cy, shown here on his 90th birthday back in 2009, passed away yesterday morning at the age of 92. We spent the last few years of his life getting to know each other, laughing and talking for hours in person and on the phone. He was always cheerful and had a lust for life. He was still driving his car and told me he was the happiest he ever was when he could get in his car and just go! He will be greatly missed in my life. He is the last remaining family member on my paternal side. All the stories that never got told left with him. Fortunately, he told me many when we talked. He loved me, my family, my new house, and so many other people. He would give you the shirt off his back and never think twice about it. If he liked you and you needed help, he was there for you!
Uncle Cy...I love you. I hope that when you make your transition and get to the place you are going, that my Dad will be there to meet you. It's been a long time since the two of you have seen each other (1957) but maybe time doesn't exist where you are. Thank you for loving me!
Gosh Teri, you've just been pelted with loss lately....I'm so sorry. I'll be thinking of you, and your Uncle Cy today....both wonderful people...and holding you both in my thoughts of love and light going out your way. ((hugs))
ReplyDeleteaww...i am sorry...big hugs...he sounds like quite the guy...just got back myself from a little vacation...
ReplyDeleteThe last of a strong and amazing generation. Now they are only part of our memories and what lies beyond.
DeleteI wish I had talked to my older family members more and asked them to tell me what it was like to live though all the amazing changes that occurred during their lifetime. I treasure the time that I had with my Mom before she died. I learned so much from her. Mostly I learned how to be brave when you are old and how to die with dignity. Hope I do as well.
I'm sorry that your Uncle Cy is gone but he sounds like he had a good life and was loved by many... especially you.
Mom - such a sweet post. I so hope that Uncle Cy will see your dad again. I have been having many "feelings" lately about life events and such, and don't know if you remember my discussion with you a couple of weeks back about him. He will be missed. He was a neat guy. Love, me.
ReplyDeletehow wonderful that you got to know him, that he lived long enough for that to happen! He has a kind and gentle face. Big hugs to you. blessings, suki
ReplyDeleteThanks for the hugs. And you are so right about how lucky I was to get to really "know" him. So often he would tell me that we were so much alike and that we really understood each other, He would laugh and say to me that he could tell me anything and I didn't judge him! Never would!!
DeleteAnother loss! I'm so sorry to read this ((hugs)).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the hugs. I can feel them all the way here!
DeleteHe looks like a great guy ... I'm glad that you have had some recent time together though. Our elders have so much to share - but it's because of all they give us that makes it so hard to say goodbye. I'm sorry for your loss.
ReplyDeleteI was able to tape record some of his stories and now need to transcribe them and put them to paper. Do you know that when he and his family came to Calif. from Nebraska, they camped out all along the way...cooked on the top of an old "stop sign" over a bon fire, and when they arrived in Calif. they lived in a tent in So. Calif. while my grandfather picked fruit in the fields for money. They truly lived a life like "The Grapes of Wrath". He was an amazing guy and a few times he had told me that he loved shoes. Spent a fortune on the shoes that he bought and he figured out later in life that it was because he had gone barefoot for so many years in his life when he was young that he felt it was a gift that he could give to himself. Wonderful man.
DeleteMom - I think your last sentence made me tear up because I could see you as a little girl losing your father at age seven. Now, you gained what was as close to your blood relative to your father as you could get, his brother. It was as though your dad was helping your uncle fill the void of love that you didn't get to receive from your father. That is so incredibly touching and emotional for me. I think of daddy and how much I adore him, love him, and can't imagine my life without him. It was truly special that you got to have this relationship with Uncle Cy later in life.
DeleteMore loss for you - so sorry! Somehow there seems to be an extra sadness when its the last of a generation. I hope you find solace in your happy memories of him.
ReplyDeleteoh my so much loss indeed lately for you....
ReplyDeleteI am glad you were able to spend so much time together..and for sure your dad was there to show the way
hugs Teri
Suz...I added up how many people have transitioned since my friend Mary on Dec. 15th and there are eleven! It is more than I ever remember in my entire life. Is it just because that I am getting older or is there something "calling" all these wonderful people to the other side?
DeleteYou know your last line really got to me. That is the most we can ever give another. Nothing else can compare. To love and be loved. I could hear the eternal girl, the child in us all, in those words -"thank you for loving me." I am so sorry for your loss but celebrate the special person you had in your life.
ReplyDeleteYep...there is absolutely nothing like knowing that you are loved. So many times people in our lives say those words to us but they really don't mean otherwise they would still be showing us that love. Love is eternal, you are right! And essentially, that is all one needs.
DeleteA very touching post. Glad that you were able to get to know him before he passed.
ReplyDeleteVery nice. It's hard, when the old ones go. They are as precious as babies, being fleeting moments.
ReplyDeleteMy grandma died almost 20 years ago now, and I still think of her almost daily, her speech patterns, her work-worn hands, her patience.
My condolences to you.
Pearl