A LOSS

December of 2002, when the family came together to party for my Graduation- Uncle Don, Uncle Pete & my Mom

My Uncle Pete passed away early Sunday morning. He's actually my mom's uncle, which makes him my great uncle, and he had been quite ill for a long time. The last living brother of my grandma, he had been fighting recurring cancer for over 10 years. His last round of cancer had resurfaced last Christmas when he came up to Houston from Port Aransas to have surgery.

He had been in and out of hospitals since last Christmas when he'd had major surgery. My mom has taken care of him for various time in her house, while selling his condo out of town, moving him to a nursing home here and finally putting him on hospice care. It's been a very long, difficult year for my mom. She's also taking care of her mom and my step-dad is taking care of his mom.

Christmas of 2005

The past 2 years Uncle Pete had actually joined us for Christmas. Christmas is mom's favorite holiday, but the past few years have been difficult as we have struggled with aging family members. I'm glad that she was able to make the holidays a joyous time, despite all the health related complications for Uncle Pete.

Christmas 2006, Sue & Don also came for a visit and Uncle Pete had been staying with mom

Pete is surrounded by his two sisters, as well as the rest of the family that loved him last Christmas. Although this is actually my 4th funeral this year, for some reason this one is a bit more difficult for me than the rest. I'm not sure if it's all the other stressful things going on right now or if it's the fact that I've closely watched my mother take care of Uncle Pete the past year as his health steadily declined. Perhaps it's the fact that all the other Aunts & Uncles that I haven't been so close to are now gone, and the only people left are my Gram, her sister Sue and Sue's husband Don. Listening to my mom tell me more about Pete's history, his life, his military service, his son's tragic death as a young teen, his rocky relationships with his children, his own personal grief and sorrow that make it so much more real to me.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Though not great, the health of my 3 living grandparents is fair and stable right now.