A Change of Seasons

My Uncle George Passed away last night. And another colleague and his wife lost their baby that was born premature, and my parents had two friends pass away as well. It’s funny how a change of seasons, and the weather seems to take people with it.

George had been ill for a long time. He was a tough old bird, and an overall good guy. I visited him a few times, and I liked the way he kept saying he was “only living to torture his wife”. He had a wry sense of humor, and was a very bright man. I had a great conversation with him last Xmas, when I went over to my cousin’s house. It was the kind of talk that I will cherish, and remember him most for. He talked about how disastrous the Bush years had been and what promise Obama was, which floored me, as I had assumed my blood relations were republican to the core. He knew about what was going on at the CSU, and asked me questions. It was good, especially as he always made me feel like a man, not a kid, and this last conversation was no different. When I first moved to Sacramento, they allowed me to stay in their big, over-crowded house in Carmichael until I got my sea legs.

He knew about war, because he had seen it. I remember one summer break at a family thing, I was thinking about quitting school and going into the military, and he turned to me and said “Oh no you’re not!” I will always be indebted to him for that kick in the head, which made me stay in school. I always enjoyed talking to him. He read the papers and paid attention to the news, like few I know.

My Uncle George was a retired air force officer. He had and took his family to such diverse locations as Louisiana, Germany and Japan. Some of my family never really understood my Aunt, and I think it was because of their adventures. It wasn’t until years later that I understood why as I began traveling and seeing how it changed me, and how the changes in me created rifts between me and those who had no idea or interest in what I had seen or done. As a kid, I remember they would send us cool things from wherever they were. I guess they gave me the virus to see the world…

He is the first of my parent’s generation to go, as we ran out of grandparents and great-aunts a few years as ago. Now time is going after the next generation, then a few years later it will begin to eat at mine. I had 15 friends die of AIDs one after another... they say folks my age went thru what the old folks are now... loosing friends, having to deal with the inevitable, thinking about dying.

I live everyday for Braum, Steven, Bill, Ralph and the rest who never were able to make it this far... I am blessed, and I feel a great responsibility to do something with my life as well. It’s the basis for my frustration with my job, it just seems stupid compared to what needs done in the world. I have been fortunate to see a lot of sadness and witness a lot of magic. Maybe someday I can share it...

One weird thing, I spent most of Sunday transferring and correcting data that I had in my Palm to my Blackberry. It was tedious, and took almost all afternoon, but was the kind of work one does when it’s raining cats and dogs. I had just gotten to my Aunt and Uncle’s data, edited and reentered when “bling”, a message showed up from my mother saying my Uncle had just passed away.

The Navajo have a tradition for things that happen, births, deaths, weddings, etc in a rain storm…. It is called The Blessing Way.