Family Forever

We had a sad family occurance in May. My great-uncle passed away. He and my father were very close. My dad passed away in March, and my family and my uncle's family all thought "Well, it won't be long before Elbert is gone too." And it was just under 2 months before that was true. They were just that way. I feel certain my dad and uncle are somewhere together, telling story after story, jokes, and riddles. They were both smart, funny men, and I miss them both so much.

The following is his obituary, with identifiers removed by me:

Elbert , 77, passed away at 12:45 a.m. Thursday, May 13, 2010, at Memorial Hospital.
He was born Sept. 25, the son of William and Laura. His marriage to the former Lucinda took place Nov. 3, in Corinth, Miss. She survives.

The Korean War veteran served with the U.S. Army and was an electrician for Mississippi Lime for forty-five and a half years, retiring in 1997.

In addition to his wife, Lucinda, survivors include one son and daughter-in-law, Brian and Sarah; two daughters and a son-in-law, Melissa and David and Dawn; three grandchildren, Justin, Staci and her husband, Mike, and Sara; one sister, Louise.
His parents, two brothers, and three sisters preceded him in death.

My sister and nephew were visiting, and the two of them, mom, and I made the drive a couple states away in order to see my uncle one last time and support his family. With a 2 year old to entertain, you still have to live life, even though you are sad and mourning. And so we went:

swimming at the hotel. He enjoyed it for a while, then wanted to get out. We did some chasing around the pool, which was his favorite part. It goes like this: I say "I'm gonna..." and he says "Dit you (get you.)" Then I chase. And he squeals. And yells. And giggles. And tries to get away. lol A good time for everyone involved!


There was cuddling and story telling, most especially the reading of a new book about the Wonder Pets. Seriously, we read that thing *at least* 15 times while we were there.

J and his NaNa.

And there was even a pillowfight!