Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but please extend your prayers to my
Aunt and her family. It's also cathartic for me to type it out.
While on a business trip this week, I found out my Uncle (my mom's sister's
husband) passed away after a relatively short fight with liver failure. He was
hospitilazed shortly before Easter because of jaundice, seemed to be doing
OK, and then went back in a couple weeks ago when his liver just about
quit working. He was a surgeon before he retired a few years ago and it's
thought that he may have contracted HepC during an operation.
I come from a very close knit family consisting of 6 aunts and uncles from my
mom's side and all my cousins. My Uncle, an in-law, served as the patriarch
of the family. My dad, also an in-law, helped my cousins plan their father's
funeral this week. This must also be meaningful to my father who treated
my Uncle like a brother and who's own father passed away only a month after
we moved to America 30 years ago. My dad also lost a golfing buddy. My
Uncle just picked it up a few years ago.
My Uncle was a quiet man comfortable to hang back, but always at the
ready to diffuse family tensions with a joke. A very talented artist (he
chose medicine over art as a young man), he started woodworking shortly
before retirement and worked out of a shop much too small for his skill--or
maybe that shows his skill. I bought my Bosch router on his recommendation.
At his 70th BD last summer, I got him a Japanese dovetail saw--the same
one I use. Sadly his health started to decline and my cousin last night said
he never had a chance to use it. We also loved comparing notes on different
projects we were working on, but as fate would have it, he never got to see
my work or my big shop in person.
He was an ingenious man. He played foreman when my dad built his mountain
cabin. The inspector exclaimed, "Who laid out the foundation and aligned
these walls?!!!" My Uncle, "I did, what's wrong?" Inspector, "How did you get
everything so plumb and square? The pros don't even get this right."
According to my dad, my Uncle, a real Renaissance man, used his $10 laser
level to get everything just perfect. When another Uncle, an avid golfer,
wanted to start manufacturing wooden putters for sale, my Uncle devised
several jigs to turn and bend the shafts and some other jigs to efficiently
cut the rounded heads. He used his own putter out on the links.
I will certainly miss his company and his easy going style. I remember so my
family BBQs, Thanksgivings, Christmas', camping trips, shared vacations. We
are a stiff upper lip type family and my Aunt will certainly be playing the
part. I can't imagine how she is feeling on the inside. Please pray for her
healing.
Thanks for listening,
Paul
On the flight back home yesterday, I laughed to myself. I just realized that
this man, who loved to work wood, was a surgeon, and was brilliant when
figuring out construction challenges, was called "Saw" in English. That's how
you phonetically say his name in English.
Aunt and her family. It's also cathartic for me to type it out.
While on a business trip this week, I found out my Uncle (my mom's sister's
husband) passed away after a relatively short fight with liver failure. He was
hospitilazed shortly before Easter because of jaundice, seemed to be doing
OK, and then went back in a couple weeks ago when his liver just about
quit working. He was a surgeon before he retired a few years ago and it's
thought that he may have contracted HepC during an operation.
I come from a very close knit family consisting of 6 aunts and uncles from my
mom's side and all my cousins. My Uncle, an in-law, served as the patriarch
of the family. My dad, also an in-law, helped my cousins plan their father's
funeral this week. This must also be meaningful to my father who treated
my Uncle like a brother and who's own father passed away only a month after
we moved to America 30 years ago. My dad also lost a golfing buddy. My
Uncle just picked it up a few years ago.
My Uncle was a quiet man comfortable to hang back, but always at the
ready to diffuse family tensions with a joke. A very talented artist (he
chose medicine over art as a young man), he started woodworking shortly
before retirement and worked out of a shop much too small for his skill--or
maybe that shows his skill. I bought my Bosch router on his recommendation.
At his 70th BD last summer, I got him a Japanese dovetail saw--the same
one I use. Sadly his health started to decline and my cousin last night said
he never had a chance to use it. We also loved comparing notes on different
projects we were working on, but as fate would have it, he never got to see
my work or my big shop in person.
He was an ingenious man. He played foreman when my dad built his mountain
cabin. The inspector exclaimed, "Who laid out the foundation and aligned
these walls?!!!" My Uncle, "I did, what's wrong?" Inspector, "How did you get
everything so plumb and square? The pros don't even get this right."
According to my dad, my Uncle, a real Renaissance man, used his $10 laser
level to get everything just perfect. When another Uncle, an avid golfer,
wanted to start manufacturing wooden putters for sale, my Uncle devised
several jigs to turn and bend the shafts and some other jigs to efficiently
cut the rounded heads. He used his own putter out on the links.
I will certainly miss his company and his easy going style. I remember so my
family BBQs, Thanksgivings, Christmas', camping trips, shared vacations. We
are a stiff upper lip type family and my Aunt will certainly be playing the
part. I can't imagine how she is feeling on the inside. Please pray for her
healing.
Thanks for listening,
Paul
On the flight back home yesterday, I laughed to myself. I just realized that
this man, who loved to work wood, was a surgeon, and was brilliant when
figuring out construction challenges, was called "Saw" in English. That's how
you phonetically say his name in English.
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