A couple years ago or so, my uncle had a stroke which caused significant damage. He spent some time in the hospital and then was sent home to be cared for by his wife. He was not a very good patient and didn’t really do what he needed in order to improve life. His condition deteriorated and he was moved into a nursing home about a year ago. His quality of life has been quite poor over the last several months while his health continued to fail. I heard that my dad was looking to buy a suit a few weeks ago because he thought he might need it soon. I got the news that my uncle died yesterday in the nursing home. Dad never did find a suit so he will just make due with what he has. He’s flying off to Pennsylvania in a few hours and the funeral is on Friday.

My dad was the youngest of three children in his family. His mother died when he was a teenager. His father died about 30 years ago. His sister died a few years ago and now his brother is gone. While he has been expecting this for some time, I can imagine the reality is still quite hard, especially since he is now the last of his immediate family. Fortunately, this means the end of two years of a poor quality of life for my uncle and a chance for his wife, my aunt, to move on with her life.

RIP, Uncle J.