Revisiting Last Year

Last week my family all met to remember my uncle who passed away a year ago. If Uncle Murrell were here, he would have had a great time playing with the kiddos. He was always one to play with the youngsters and offer his advice to those who needed it.

As a teenager, I didn't always believe I needed his advice but he gave it anyway. Of course, part of that could have been a concern for his personal safety... like the time my car broke down and my mechanic father was out of town. I was driving my dad's truck which had a standard transmission (my car was an automatic). I had probably only ever had one lesson on driving a stick shift vehicle. My uncle called because his computer crashed and I needed to come fix it so he could work. Not having figured out that one should let off the clutch prior to letting off the brake, I learned why the cement parking barriers (short ones that are in most parking lots) are important. The truck lurched. As soon as I walked into Uncle's studio, I was given a verbal driving lesson. To this day, if I forget to let off the clutch and brake in the correct order, I think of that lesson.

One year, he was living in Tennessee. On my way home from Michigan, I took a detour to visit Uncle Murrell for a few days. We didn't go see any special tourist stuff. But he did take the time to hang out, talk, and share his life which was probably more important than doing anything else. Plus neither one of us wanted to spend much time outside in the heat and humidity... the comfort of the air conditioned house was good for us! Ha!