Last evening my Uncle’s battle with lung cancer ended. It was sudden and though we all expected him to go, it was not now, not yesterday. He was on a second round of chemo and had a few ups and downs over the last couple of weeks, but a trip to the doctor for what was thought to be bronchitis lead to a CT scan, lead to emergency surgery… and it was more then his body could handle. He was a simple man all his life, but a good man. Few every found reason to curse him, rather the people he worked with liked him so much that he would be requested for their project. He loved his family, his concrete truck, and was ever diligent about the mowing and caretaking of his lawn. He had faced many tough things in his life and had overcome almost all of them. The remaining one was the biggest monkey on his back and it finally got him… smoking. The real sadness is that he had only retired this year and could start looking forward to kicking back and watching the grass grow… My Aunt I am told is doing okay, but the family is coming together from around the country to comfort her in her time of need. Nothing will ease her pain for the moment. But at least we can be there to support her for a short while. So today I struggle to make it through the day, while my wife is at home working hard on finding flights for me, Mom and my other Uncle to fly to Nebraska from 3 different states and arrive close in time to one another so that we can drive the 3 hours from Omaha to Hastings together. Arrival at my Aunt’s will be in the middle of the night Friday. With so few flights to there in the middle of winter this is the best that could be arranged for all. Our battle begins to get to my Aunt, her battle begins of a life with out my Uncle after all these decades. My Uncle’s battle is over as he sleeps in death but for a moment in time. Unk, I’ll be waiting for you.
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