I got ‘the phone call’ from my Uncle Don’s stepdaughter that he was taken to the hospital last night and found to have pneumonia. He is very sick and non-responsive. My step-cousin was by his side all night, but none of us have been to the hospital for various reasons. My mom doesn’t want to see him die before her eyes, and I have to agree with her. The last time we saw him, he was a bit out of it and that was in the other hospital. The hours are just going by soooooo….slowly. I jump a foot when the phone rings.

My Uncle is my mom’s older brother by 7 years and only sibling. He was born when his parents were 22 and 20 yrs old. He’s lived through the Great Depression and many wars. He didn’t serve in WWII as he was found to have nodules from a childhood bout of TB. He went to West Chester College and graduated to be the music instructor for Ridley School District for 36 years. He knew how to play a variety of instruments. He loved his mom a lot and would visit her a few days a week on his way home from Ridley as Media  was close by. He liked to do woodworking and I think most of us have something he made either by hand or machine. I have a few of his carved birds which were really nicely done. He retirement in 1981 to travel, etc. He had a motor home that he drove to places like Michigan where he and his wife met a couple who they remained friendly with for many years. Speaking of my aunt, she is still with us but in a nursing home. She’ll be 95 on the 18th! He kept his yard like a park and took great pride in doing so. We had have helped him in recent years, but it proved too hard a job and he was having it cleaned up lately. He is a 13 yr survivor of prostate cancer, but it left him with a useless bladder (from the radiation). He enjoyed watching tv 24/7, but in later years it was tuned on CNN all the time. He also did Cryptograms, if I’m not mistaken and enjoyed his pipe and sweet tooth. In general he is a good man and had lots of pals.

My only maternal uncle passed away around 6:30 pm est. RIP with another lovely person who left this world an hour or soon earlier, Elizabeth Edwards.

My mom just called and said my Uncle Don is experiencing the same symptoms he had before surgery and isn’t doing well. He’s been a strong 87 yr old so far, and I feel terrible he is feeling weak again. Sean and I will go see him tomorrow as Brian has to take his 87 yr old dad to the eye doctor for the first time in like 15-16 yrs. We weren’t crazy about him driving as he was saying one eye is blurry now. I worry about stubborn people like him. He will go to the dentist, but when it comes to his eyes, ‘his normal’ was just fine and dandy. One of the disagreements I have with Brian is that he doesn’t take a stand that much against his dad. I can’t tell you how crazy he drove us about wanting to sell a few gold pieces. We sent it off to an internet place (A- rating with BBB) and he didn’t like how much they offered for a necklace. I think they’ve have at least 3 hours combined talk over a few hundred bucks.
Please keep my uncle in your thoughts and prayers.

My uncle had a colonoscopy today and they found he had a large tumor in his intestines that probably has been there for years. He is having an operation in the next few days to remove it. At first they weren’t sure if he could go through it, but I guess they figure he can. I’ll keep you posted on how he is.