Uncle George

On May 6th just after midnight, my dad's brother, my Uncle George, passed away at the age of 75. He had been sick for a couple of years with some weird, undiagnosed blood disorder, something called myelodysplasia syndrome. He had to have regular blood transfusions and had lost a lot of weight over the past year.

I have been so sad today...sad that I wasn't in Vancouver to say goodbye to him one last time in the hospital, sad because, I will simply miss him.

He took a genuine interest in me, as I am sure he did with the other 18 nieces and nephews. But I really felt like he wanted to know ME. He asked a lot of thoughtful questions and had a view of the world which was different than my other aunts and uncles. He just seemed more open, more liberal, more adventurous and more "hip". He had contemporary and modern tastes. He was called "the groovy uncle" when I was growing up.

He used to always say to me, "Where's mine?" at family dinners.

We both had a sense of adventure. We both loved scuba diving and he had great stories of his diving adventures. He loved the ocean, boating, fishing and water skiing (another sport passion we had in common). Uncle George taught most of the older nieces & nephews (including my brother) how to waterski and how to fish (or as my brother said, "how not to fish") on the annual Lee family summer trips to Pender Harbour.

My Uncle George and Auntie Rhoda took me to Tofino when I was really young...maybe when I was only 7 or 8...and I got to experience nature with them. Tofino is a beautiful beach town on the westcoast of Vancouver Island, a place my parents would never have taken me to because they aren't the nature type.

He loved the mountains and skiing. He and my aunt took me skiing when I was in high school.

Uncle George also gave cool presents. One year, he gave me a yellow budgie bird.

He loved to BBQ on his Weber; he made an awesome BBQ turkey; BBQ anything, really.

He loved to travel and learning about different cultures. You can tell by his circle of friends. Where most people would follow "birds of a feather flock together", he had friends from all walks of life. Friends of different colour, race, religion, socio-economic class, education. He could find something in common with them all. He appreciated a good education and encouraged us to study abroad so that we wouldn't have a limited view of of the world. Perhaps my sense of adventure and my love for travel came from Uncle George. (I know it didn't come from my dad because my dad enjoys the security of familiarity.) Yes, that is what Uncle George and I had in common. We loved adventure and experiencing "the world out there".

Uncle George had an eye for fashion and had great taste in clothes for my aunt (my husband could have learned a few fashion tips from him). He had style! He loved beautiful things, not in a materialistic way, but more about having an appreciation for fine art, craftsmanship and design.

Uncle George and Auntie Rhoda were also incredibly supportive in whatever my endeavours were...even at my young age when I was fundraising for school or for some other cause. They bought my raffle tickets, Christmas trees, chickens, oranges, Entertainment books, Easter lillies, jewelry...whatever I was selling or promoting, they would support me.

Uncle George was a great storyteller or shall I say, a great salesman? Once you got him started on something he was passionate about, you couldn't get him to stop talking. He was full of passion.
He wasn't afraid to call a spade, a spade, even when other people saw differently. There was no pretense about him.

Uncle George and I had lunch together every so often in Gastown, just me and him. I remember I could tell him anything (or at least, he used to say that I could tell him anything). I told him a lot of secrets that a person wouldn't normally tell a relative, let alone an older one. And he just listened. I even remember this one time, I was so looking forward to lunch with him, that I forewent freezing for a cavity filling...I wanted to be able to talk to him normally without a frozen mouth.
I remember one lunch, in particular, sharing a deep, dark secret. Wow. That was bold of me. But that was who Uncle George was...someone you can be ballsy with, and not feel judged. I didn't have to proper with him because he was about being real and keeping it real.

Uncle George was definitely someone who lived life to the fullest. When most people would just think or dream about doing something, Uncle George just did it.

I can't believe he's gone. I wish he was still here. But he was in a lot of pain. I take some comfort in knowing that he doesn't have to suffer anymore. But I still miss him all the same and wish that I had one last moment with him.

Madison kept saying, "But I loved Uncle Dorge. I called him Uncle Dorge but he is Uncle George, right mamma? It's so sad. I will miss him and I wish he was still alive." Madison just loved Uncle George. Loved, loved, LOVED. Even though she didn't see him much, she just had so much fun with him.

Today after Jaclyn's busy day was over, and in the quiet of the night, Jaclyn sobbed so hard and for a long time. She felt so bad that she wasn't in Vancouver to say goodbye and wished that she had seen Uncle George more often. She thought Uncle George was "so fun". She asked if Uncle George would miss us (as we do him) and if he would pray for us from Heaven. When I told her that I was happy that Uncle George wasn't in pain anymore, she asked if I was more happy than sad or more sad than happy. I simply had to answer, "more sad right now but in a couple of days, I will be more happy because I know that he isn't suffering anymore".

Goodbye, Uncle George. Thank you for taking a genuine interest in us. We love you. I saw a rainbow and thought of you.