Saying Goodbye

I said "goodbye" to my precious Uncle Blaine yesterday. He was 83 years young. His beautiful bride had her cheek pressed against his when his spirit flew from his body. My cousin described it as a "whoosh" and, all of a sudden, he was gone. He had flown to his Heavenly Father.

"Some glad morning when this life is o'er, I'll fly away,
fly away;
To a home on God's celestial shore, I'll fly away,
fly away." (Alfred Brumley)

Isn't that a great old hymn? I'm glad to know that is how my sweet uncle left this earth!

Some of my fondest childhood memories are all tangled up with Uncle Blaine.
I loved it when our family traveled to Uncle Blaine and Aunt Jean's house for Thanksgiving, with all the aunts and uncles and cousins. This is my mother's side of our family and if I had to describe them, the description would include lots of storytelling, and laughing, and singing.
The singing was beautiful-lots of old hymns sung in four part harmony. Everyone would join in and sing at the top of their lungs. The blending of voices and hearts gave us a preview of heaven. In fact, I think heaven opened a window to listen.

And the stories . . .
We would laugh until we cried. They found joy in everything. Even though they grew up during the Great Depression, their lives were full of love and happiness. They chose it. They chose to fill themselves up with Light. And their faces still glow with the light that shines from inside their souls.
I remember the Thanksgiving after I had turned six. I was in first grade and was learning to read. I took my reader, "Tip", with me so that I could read it to Uncle Blaine. He would scoop me up as soon as we arrived and use his best Donald Duck voice to tell me all kinds of wonderful things. I would laugh and hug his neck and just enjoy being loved so much by this wonderful man. I adored him! I always will!
His funeral was hard but wonderful. It took 45 minutes for people to file past the casket and speak to his family. I watched them. I wanted to see who else loved him. I wanted to know them because they loved him. There were little children, young couples, lots of elderly people, and so many teenagers. He was known to many of them as their honorary Grandpa. I love that! It speaks so much about who he was and how he impacted this world. Having always lived several hundred miles away, I guess I had never really thought about the fact that there were so many others, like me, who thought he was wonderful.
. . .so many others who looked forward to seeing him.
The world seems a little darker knowing he has left it.