The holidays are a time for family far and near, young and old. It’s a time of laughter and some cases sorrow.

Yesterday I received word of the passing of my favorite uncle. Now, I know some of my family members might huff and say that another uncle should be my favorite, but when push comes to shove, the uncle I knew the longest and had many wonderful times is Uncle Karl. He is the smiling man on the left, my dad on the right.

Not only was he remembered as laughing and telling me how it was, his parents were great people as well. Fond memories of his mother always packing gumboils for all of us – even the ones like us who weren’t their biological grandchildren.

Perhaps my siblings don’t recall the pact our parents and that aunt and uncle made when we were young. There were five of us kids and four of them. When the parents needed a break, we could climb into the Buick station wagon  and cross town to spend the weekend with my cousins. When Uncle Karl and Aunt Regina wanted to get away, we had the four cousins to play with that lasted long after the lights went out. My mother once told me if anything had happened to with set of parents, we cousins would be together under one roof.

When Aunt Regina died, and the hole she left in that family was filled by my uncle’s second wife – Aunt Bev. She was another woman who had boundless love and she helped smooth the rough edges of my cousins’ and their father’s loss.

Uncle Karl always had a warm hug for me. With his passing I already miss those precious gifts.