The Importance of Family

Over the weekend I left the cornfields and went back home which is near a big city. This was the first time I was home since moving back to college. A lot of things changed since then. My dad finally got rid of his man-van and upgraded to a KIA Soul. It is an interesting car, but cute. The mall that is three streets away from my house has been under construction for the past three years and so many changes have happened. It has been neat to see the changes going on. My cousin who lives in Denver, Colorado came to visit and I have not seen him in like five years. He was only able to visit for a day because of his work. There was another reason for his visit though. He came here to visit our uncle...

Let me first tell you a little bit about him. He was 6'3" tall man with medium length dark grayish hair and a mustache. He was a life time mechanic and can fix any type of vehicle or boat out there. He had a great sense of humor and the biggest heart. If you called him at any time and asked for help he would come right away. He was an amazing fisherman and hunter. He loved ridding his motorcycle and talking about cars. I am very close to him. He is more than an uncle to me, he is my best friend and another father to me.

My summer has been back forth trips to the hospital or to my grandparents house to visit him when he wasn't well. His immune system got really bad to where he could not fight anything and when he got sick, he was sick. He also had a problem with swelling in his legs and feet and sometimes his hands. There was also a lot of fluid that would build up in his abdomen. Just a lot was happening to him that was hard to watch him go through. In the beginning he always tried to stay positive, but then it just kept getting harder. 

Well in just in the time period of two weeks, things got much worse.  It went from a simple visit to the hospital to get tapped since he had so much fluid on his stomach to being sent to hospice. It was really tough when I got that call from my parents telling me he was being moved over to hospice. I did not want to believe it. All I could do was cry and tell my parents that I would be home soon. They told me no to stay at school and would call me if their were any changes. 

Throughout that week, it was constant call, text and emailing with my parents. We made the decision for me to come home for the weekend. Then we got news that my cousin was coming in to visit too and visit my uncle. 

I got home Friday afternoon and went straight to hospice to visit my uncle. When I walked in the biggest smile was on his face. My parents told me earlier that he was having trouble recognizing people and kind of loosing it. So when I saw that smile I knew he recognized me. I gave him the biggest hug and the biggest kiss on his forehead. We had small conversations and at times you can see his old sense of humor coming out and we all knew that he was still in there. 

Picture of us together on Friday.

Saturday however is different. When we went and visited him, we were told that the had to give him more morphine so he would probably be asleep. We still went in and talked to him and he would wake up once and awhile and join in with some random sentences or make "Vroom-vroom" noises. We all just said that he was on his motorcycle again. It would make us chuckle. 

Then there is today, Sunday October 4. When we went in to see him, we were told that he was just sleeping now. We went in and when we said hi to him, he would only wake up for a second. We tried to offer him some water or ask if he wanted to be put up more, but we would not really get a response. This is when we were all really worried. We visited for awhile then went over to my grandparents house to have homemade chicken soup. We told my uncle that we will bring some back and we got a little response from him. I gave him a big hug and lots of kisses and told him I loved him very much. It was tough, because I was not going to be going back to visit him since I had to get back to school. So I basically had to say my good-bye to him. We were at the point to where any day could be the day.

He was that uncle that wants me to stay in school. He always said he was proud of me and was impressed with my stories from school. So when everyone was leaving to go back and visit, I started my way back to school. It was a long drive. I cried when I passed a Harley and Davidson shop because it reminded me of my uncle. He loved going to the shops and collected shirts from different Harley and Davidson shops. 

Well at 9:27 pm I got a call from my mom. It was silent for awhile then I heard crying. She said, "I'm so sorry honey. Uncle KC passed away. He went peacefully and with all of us around him". I could hear crying in the background. I lost it. All I could do was cry and shake. "He can't be gone, I just saw him this morning", is all I could think. 

Everyday for awhile is going to be a struggle. I just lost someone who I was really close to. I will no longer have oil change lunch dates with him. That was our thing we did every time my oil was changed. I would drop my car off then go to lunch with him to Taco Bell or Burger King. I can't joke around with him about everything and everyone. I can't call him up every time my car makes a weird noise. He won't be on our fishing trips anymore. No more seeing him ride his yellow motorcycle around. At the same time though I have so many great memories of him that I will treasure for the rest of my life. I got to see him in the best of his time. I will never forget him and he will always be with me. 

Family has always been very important to me, and this has made me appreciate my family even more.

I love you Uncle KC and I will miss you forever!

Uncle KC
May 4, 1963 - October 4, 2015