Since the loss of my Uncle Ducky I have been in such a slump creatively and emotionally perhaps because we (my mom & I) have been left with the task of sorting through the precious things that meant so much to him. Only one who has ever been assigned this excrutiating task can even appreciate what a stressful yet privileged job this really is. I feel an obligation to my Uncle because he was such a dignified and loving man, so I want to make sure that he will be pleased with the way things were distributed. He always would tell me how he cried when his grandmother died and when he went back east to collect her belongings, people went in and just had all of her precious things thrown about like it was trash.
Death is so hard to deal with and although we may lose someone who means so much to us, we can keep their memories alive through the things that they treasured and preserve them for the future generations just as Uncle Ducky did.
Uncle Ducky was a "saver" of many things. He loved his nephews and nieces so much and he loved all of his fleshly brothers and sisters as well as his spiritual brothers and sisters dearly. This has been proven by the fact that since his death, we have uncovered probably every wedding invitation and every high school graduation card and every birth announcement for each of our family members and friends that Uncle Ducky has ever known! He even saved every note that each one of our children has ever written to him. What a treasure he has given us! He has preserved each and every one of these things along with pictures of family that I have never seen before. Of course each of these things is wrapped in plastic and stuffed in every nook or cranny possible which has been a task in itself. I came across napkins to most of my cousins weddings (did I mention that I have about a million cousins) and report cards from his siblings who are now in their 70's. Yes, and he even saved every card that any of us has ever sent to him. Did he love his family and friends or what? Yes, we were all precious to our Uncle Ducky.
We have decided that through this process we are going to put together boxes for each of his siblings and their children with the things that Ducky has saved from their family and children. Our family will probably treasure these things just as much as Uncle Ducky treasured them and it will give them the opportunity to keep their memories of Uncle Ducky close to their hearts and it will enable them to start their own memories from treasures that Uncle Ducky saved.
How cool it has been to see my wedding invitation that I sent Uncle Ducky 32 years ago! I didn't even have a copy of my wedding invitation! I also found notes that my children who are now grown men (31 & 25) wrote to Uncle Ducky when they were about 8 & 9 years old. I will always treasure these things and now I have some of these things to make a beautiful scrapbook out of.
So through this process it has been very stressful and very emotional. One moment we are crying because we miss him so much or we may come across a note that he wrote us telling us how much he loves us and appreciates all that we have done for him and then the next minute we will be laughing about all of the toilet paper that he collected in his home (151 packages, not rolls) yes, for some reason I think it is a senior thing, never having enough??? What a character!!! I love it!!! Or we will reminisce about his dancing or his funny sayings.... He has definately made sure that we will never forget him. Not a day will go by when I don't think of my precious Uncle Duck and his beautiful smile. But for now I will say goodbye to my Uncle Ducky and it's time to keep living until we meet again..... This is dedicated to my Uncle Ducky who loved life so much and lived for the ones he loved so much. We will miss him dearly.....
There were so many friends and family at his memorial. It was very comforting to see how many people were touched by my Uncle Ducks.
This precious baby is my niece Carrie's who was born the same day Uncle Ducky died. How precious to see a new life begin. He would have loved to see a new addition to the family!
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