Wednesday, December 14, 2011

12.09.2011 My Uncle Bill

12.09.2011

As I was growing up, my Uncle Bill seemed larger than life. Air Force Reserve, member of the Mountaineers, doting uncle to his niece, the only member of my extended family I knew.

I considered him my rich uncle, and I don't recall him ever arriving without a gift for me. Before my teens, these gifts evolved into experiences rather than material presents - summer camp, day trips, Scottish Highland events, memory makers that never break, wear out or expire. 


In a tumultuous childhood, he represented stability. He always showed up, kept his promises, dependable. He funded my Girl Scout excursions, hauled me to museums, the science center. He took me on my first plane ride, expanding my picture of the world. Perhaps my early country-wide wanderings had their beginnings in that flight.

He put himself through college to get an engineering degree, acquired a pilots license and bought a small plane, climbed peaks with mountaineers in Washington State, and carried the first "portable" 2-way HAM radio to the summit of Mt. Rainier. The story goes that the radio out-weighed him by several pounds.


I remember him as a tall, handsome man, handlebar mustache, athletic, brilliant. He taught firearms handling classes, knew military history (is there any other kind?) back to ancient times, and served in the Korean War. Leaping tall buildings would not have surprised me.

Best of all, he loved cats. I think this is the part of him I treasured most. We both spoke cat, from the blue-bloods to the meanest alley cat. Their independence and agility, power and beauty appealed to me, and, I think, to him. Cat radar remains one of my litmus tests, amazingly accurate. 


Uncle Bill married in his 40's, trading in bachelorhood for family life. All that love came to rest on a woman strong enough to recognize the warmth in his soul, and respect enough to share her own. First the grandchildren, then the great-grandchildren, came to know the loving, humble man that I know as Uncle Bill. And they tightened that circle when he bid the love of his life a lingering farewell until they meet again in the next life.

He doesn't pretend to understand why loved ones are wrenched away, even while he walks daily with his God. Faith takes over where neither logic nor reason can satisfy his great Why? Still he prays, still he believes, even without knowing if he will ever find out. Meanwhile, Earthbound, he is reborn again as each new great-grandchild arrives, to be that larger-than-life hero in their memories, maybe the greatest gift anyone can be.

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