Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Friday, February 10, 2006
Good-byes
A year ago, I found out my dear friend Mike Wolf had passed away. I'm not going to go into it in great detail, you can read about it and about him if you cycle back to last year's February archives. Suffice it to say, he was a remarkable person, taken from this world much too early, and this is a colder, darker place without his light in it.
A few days ago, I found out my Uncle Herbie passed away. It's not a tragedy--Uncle Herbie was elderly, but that doesn't mean I don't feel a tightening in my heart when I think that he is no longer with us. Uncle Herbie wasn't really my uncle. He was married to my grandfather's cousin. I guess that makes us fourth cousins by marriage.
Uncle Herbie and Aunt Sylvia were like a second set of grandparents to me. When we came to this country, penniless and alone, they reached out to us and made us part of their family. There were countless family gatherings and Thanksgivings and birthdays at their house, under the pretty ceremonial kimono that Aunt Sylvia had hanging on the wall in the living room. When I was nine or ten, they got cable in their neighborhood, before it was available in mine, so I always got to sit in their bedroom and watch MTV while the adults talked.
Uncle Herbie was funny and smart and charming. He could melt your heart and make you smile--even when I was a mean and cold-hearted teenager, I still liked going over there to see them.
The last time I saw Uncle Herbie was at my wedding a year and half ago. I hadn't seen him and Aunt Sylvia much in the last few years... people get busy and it's hard to find the time. They were always kind to me and remembered things about my life even with all their own grandchildren to keep track of.
They evacuated New Orleans last year for Hurricane Katrina, along with everyone else and ended up in Memphis, where Uncle Herbie was from and where they had lived before moving to New Orleans in the '50's. I hadn't spoken to them in so long.
I don't know what I'm getting at here, really... I'm just rambling because I'm sad.
There's so little time--for any of us. People leave your life suddenly like Mike or they slowly drift out of it, like Uncle Herbie. We get so caught up in the minutiae of our daily grind, we forget what matters--the people who you love.
Don't you forget it, ok? Don't let a year and half go by without speaking to the Uncle Herbies' in your life. Don't make plans for a month from now with your friends, like I did with Mike, and forget to tell them you love them. They may be gone tomorrow... or you may be.
I'm crying so hard now, I can't see the screen to type. I just miss them both a lot. More than I can express here.
A year ago, I found out my dear friend Mike Wolf had passed away. I'm not going to go into it in great detail, you can read about it and about him if you cycle back to last year's February archives. Suffice it to say, he was a remarkable person, taken from this world much too early, and this is a colder, darker place without his light in it.
A few days ago, I found out my Uncle Herbie passed away. It's not a tragedy--Uncle Herbie was elderly, but that doesn't mean I don't feel a tightening in my heart when I think that he is no longer with us. Uncle Herbie wasn't really my uncle. He was married to my grandfather's cousin. I guess that makes us fourth cousins by marriage.
Uncle Herbie and Aunt Sylvia were like a second set of grandparents to me. When we came to this country, penniless and alone, they reached out to us and made us part of their family. There were countless family gatherings and Thanksgivings and birthdays at their house, under the pretty ceremonial kimono that Aunt Sylvia had hanging on the wall in the living room. When I was nine or ten, they got cable in their neighborhood, before it was available in mine, so I always got to sit in their bedroom and watch MTV while the adults talked.
Uncle Herbie was funny and smart and charming. He could melt your heart and make you smile--even when I was a mean and cold-hearted teenager, I still liked going over there to see them.
The last time I saw Uncle Herbie was at my wedding a year and half ago. I hadn't seen him and Aunt Sylvia much in the last few years... people get busy and it's hard to find the time. They were always kind to me and remembered things about my life even with all their own grandchildren to keep track of.
They evacuated New Orleans last year for Hurricane Katrina, along with everyone else and ended up in Memphis, where Uncle Herbie was from and where they had lived before moving to New Orleans in the '50's. I hadn't spoken to them in so long.
I don't know what I'm getting at here, really... I'm just rambling because I'm sad.
There's so little time--for any of us. People leave your life suddenly like Mike or they slowly drift out of it, like Uncle Herbie. We get so caught up in the minutiae of our daily grind, we forget what matters--the people who you love.
Don't you forget it, ok? Don't let a year and half go by without speaking to the Uncle Herbies' in your life. Don't make plans for a month from now with your friends, like I did with Mike, and forget to tell them you love them. They may be gone tomorrow... or you may be.
I'm crying so hard now, I can't see the screen to type. I just miss them both a lot. More than I can express here.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
