"Cool" Uncle

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As if I hadn't had enough travelling in my life with working 4 hours from home, I had to drive to New Jersey yesterday and then back today.

My uncle passed away and I had to go to the funeral. That didn't sound right. I don't mean that "had to" as in "I didn't want to go but someone made me". I meant "had to" in that he was such a wonderful person and fantastic Uncle, there was no way I wasn't going to be there.

He was the "cool" uncle partly because he was the closest to my age, being only 18 years older than me. He was also cool in that he never talked to me like I was a child or treated me like a child. He was the kind of guy who treated everyone with equal respect. It didn't matter if you were a relative, a friend, or someone on the street. It didn't matter if you were a millionaire or a pauper, a lawyer or street sweeper. He was just that kind of a guy.

While I never got to spend a whole lot of time with him, when I did spend time with him, he always taught me something. I don't think he knew that. I don't even think he tried to do that, but the way he acted was a lesson in itself. He was the kind of guy you wanted to be like. It was just the way he was.

Whenever we talked, we had to discuss baseball. He was a lifelong Yankee fan, and I have been a lifelong Red Sox fan. Usually that is like oil and water, but in our case it was cool too and we had fun with it. It had been a dry spell for the Yankees for a while, and while I will never admit to anyone who doesn't read this blog, I am glad he got to see them win the World Series one more time.

I will miss him.

A lot of people get to have a "cool" aunt or uncle. When (A) was born her uncle was only 6 years old. He is a cool uncle. When (K) has her baby ....my grandchild....is going to have a "cool" aunt. It is going to be (S). That's right, she will be an aunt this summer. Is that fantastic or what! I know she will be a "cool" aunt.
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