Yesterday, an hour after I had sat down to work at my desk, I got a phone call from my cousin Sharmayne letting me know that our Uncle David had died. It didn’t come as a surprise. His liver had been eating away at him for a long time. It is still sad to lose him. It’s even sadder to watch my grandmother have to bury yet another child too soon. He was only 48 years old.
When I think of my Uncle David I think of how he didn’t take any shit. When we were younger we used to call him Mr. T as a joke because all of us kids thought he looked like Mr. T. He used to live in a house that was down the block from my grandmother. I loved spending the summer over my grandmother’s house because I’d be close enough to go play with my cousins Paulette and Michelle every single day. We’d make the trip up and down the street all day long going back and forth from my grandmother’s house back to Uncle David’s.
My Uncle David was the first person to ever take me fishing. He bought me a yellow fishing pole and took me, Michelle and Paulette to a lake. I remember he was proud of me because I wasn’t afraid to touch the live bait like my cousins were. I wormed my own hooks and everything. A happy memory.
Everyone in my family says that my Uncle David made the best chitlins. I will have to take their word for it cause I don’t eat pig guts but I know that he loved to cook. I remember he used to have this huge barbecue grill in his backyard and I loved it when he grilled. Especially hot links and ribs.
I remember they used to have this cat named Minnie and she had all these kittens. My uncle’s house and garage was so big that there was a bonus room off the garage and that’s where we would play. We would pretend that Minnie’s kittens were our “pets” when we played house. That room was big enough for us to divide up into four sections so Michelle, Paulette, their stepsister Tanisha and I could each have our own individual homes to play house.
I remember when my uncle used to have his van. I used to love to ride in the back of it. It was a great big white van. We could sit back there and play on the way to wherever he was taking us. He used to buy me soda and let me drink as much as I wanted.
I’m glad I have happy memories of my Uncle to hold on to. I’m glad that I still have six other uncles on this earth that I can love and laugh with. I’m glad my family is so big. We will be able to pull out of this.
Yesterday everyone was over my grandmother’s house in Los Angeles. I even drove there for the day with my mom. There were four generations of my grandmother’s family sitting out there. Her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. It was a wonderful site to see. I took lots of pictures, which I will post later when I get home. While we were all standing outside talking and just enjoying being with family my grandmother looked out from her seat on the porch and said, “Look how many children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren I have. I am really blessed.”
I agree Granny. We are all blessed to have each other.
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