Sad Wintry Day

Posted Wed, 12/12/07

Today was a very long day. I dislike funerals as much as the next person, but when the service is for a family member the pain and sadness is much more acute and deeply felt.

My uncle died last week and was laid to rest today in the Midway Cemetery, which is a hop-skip-and-a-jump from the resort town of Park City, Utah. While the skies were clear, the air was brutally cold as it usually is during the winter season in Heber Valley.

As I wrote in his online guest book: "Uncle Joe was an incredible man of integrity and honesty who always thought of the needs of other people before he considered himself. He was also a decent and honorable individual in an age where such a unique class of character has all but disappeared. He is in some of my earliest memories as a child, and I will never forget his wonderful laugh and his sense of humor. Uncle Joe will be very much missed."

There's not much more that I can say to express how I felt about my uncle.

Today also brought the opportunity to see other family members who now live in far-flung places and with whom I rarely get the chance to visit with.

It's unfortunate that it takes an event like a funeral to bring us all together again.