Thank You Uncle Ray

My uncle Raymond passed away last Thursday. He was 87 and had some serious health issues but it was still a shock. By anyone's account, Raymond was a character. One minute he was the gruff talking, swearing Italian - the next minute the sweetest person you could know. He fought in WWII, was a teacher and later school principal for twenty plus years. He was a long time city councilman and the mayor of Saginaw, Michigan for most of the '70s. When I was young he and Aunt Sis moved to California. For years, she fed us gourmet meals while he griped to me about drinking my milk and doing well in school and always continuing to learn. The last time I saw him some weeks back, he told me all about his high school and growing up in New York City. Maybe because of the war, but whatever reason, he was famously hard of hearing and you almost always had to repeat things twice. That led to some hilarious stories of him taking a wild guess at what you just said. Thank you for all of that uncle Ray. His passing makes me think of all the others in my life who have also gone. For today, I'm just going to be sad.