Uncle Steve

I haven't posted in a while because we've had a tragedy hit our family on Tuesday.  My uncle, Steve Hopkins, passed away.  He had been suffering from Parkinson's Disease since 2005.  Even though we knew he wasn't in the best condition, we weren't expecting this to happen now.  Uncle Steve is married to my dad's sister, Wanda, who is one of the most wonderful people (or is it persons??) that I know.  I was fortunate enough to be the closest relative on Tuesday when this occurred so I was able to get to her side pretty quickly for support.  Of course, many other relatives are now here including my parents and brothers.  We had the memorial service today at the Forest Lake Church and it was a very touching service with many wonderful stories and anecdotes. My uncle was a very unique man with a crazy sense of humor and many folks had the tales to back that up.  And indeed there were many of those as my uncle clearly touched numerous individuals through his teaching at Forest Lake Academy over the years.  Even though we are obviously very saddened at his passing, it's such a beautiful thing to know that this isn't the end.  We will see Uncle Steve again when Jesus comes to take us home.  And there will be no more Parkinson's!!

It doesn't feel right to write about the mundane considering this serious thing that has happened.  I will just say that the girls are both doing well.  We didn't tell Calleigh anything about Uncle Steve because I knew she would just keep repeating over and over again that Uncle Steve had died - - probably at inopportune times.  Once she gets something in her head, she won't stop talking about it.  I had told her about the earthquake in Haiti and how the buildings shook and that people got hurt.  For days after that, she would keep saying to me, "Want to talk about the buildings shaking?"  We were fortunate to have Elaine come over and babysit this afternoon so that we could go to the memorial without them.

I'll try to post another entry in a few days...