Today was a day of mixed emotions. My great Great Uncle Luke's funeral was today. He had battled cancer for a while now. On Monday, he went to be with the Lord. He wanted this to be a time filled with joy because he was excited about being with Jesus. I'm also sure that Uncle Luke is loving being with his mom again!! Sarah sang "Blessed Assurance" today at his funeral and it was such an appropriate song!
Even though he wanted it to be a happy time (and it primarily was), it is natural for there to be tears. My Great Uncle Larry preached his funeral. I can't imagine preaching my own brother's funeral, but he did a great job. I really enjoyed hearing about the stories that he told about my sweet uncle. It made me realize once again how much we take for granted -- that the people with love and care about will always be here with us. It became real to me once again today that that isn't the case, but we can always treasure the memories. I have always been a "memories" person. I love to hear stories, have pictures to document things, etc... Today brought back that appreciation. I have often wanted to write a book (not anything formal) about stories from our family. To start, I was thinking immediate family (cousins, etc...), but as a I sat listening today, I thought that it would be such a loss not to have all those stories recorded somewhere. I should start this project, but it seems like a daunting task right now. There are hundreds of stories just from my Nana's children and grandchildren. Then, to think about her 7 siblings and all their stories -- whew... but I do believe it would be something to treasure. Maybe I can get a family project going???
Anyway -- as I sat at his funeral today, these are the things I remembered and thought about my Uncle Luke...
* Being the flower girl in his wedding (also learned that his wife waited 21 years to marry him while he took care of his mom...what a woman!) and receiving a pink precious moments Bible from them. I love that Bible.
* Him being so proud of me graduating from college. I can remember the hugs and special congratulations he kept giving me.
* His love for plants. I think I have inherited some og this from that side of the family. I have a very special hosta in my hosta garden now that belonged to him. I will always treasure it. P.S. Uncle Luke would LOVE that it has a big Clemson Tiger paw beside it. I'll get a picture ASAP. I am sure that he will be spend a lot of his time in the gardens in heaven (and fishing, of course).
* Being a Clemson fan!!! He loved the Tigers. Even a few days before his death, my cousin Sarah wore an Alabama shirt when she went to see him. He kept making comments about the shirt, so she ended up having to go to the bathroom and turn the shirt inside out. He LOVED the Tigers. He was smiling today when Sarah (who truly is a Clemson fan but just bought the shirt on a trip to Alabama) sang at his funeral with her Clemson earrings in!
Overall, today was a huge blessing to me. I am so thankful for the wonderful family that I have.
Jessica, I do hope that you do start writing the book. You do know that Uncle Luke loved to read and wirte also. This would make everyone in the family very happy if you did. I will help in any way that I can, I have talked to almost all of my cousin this week and they want to start getting together, I am sure they would love to share with you their story also. I love you and very proud of you. MOM
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