Monday, April 6, 2009

Yesterday was an amazing day for me. My brother's widow and my oldest niece's widower visited us from out of town. My niece only passed away last January after a 3 1/2 year battle with breast cancer.

Since I was not really very close with my brother, I was not very close with his children either, mainly because of distance. My niece's last residence was in Washington. We would sometimes exchange Christmas cards, some years not. I had thought of my niece as kind of a whiny little girl and young adult. Whether that was true of not, I no longer remember.

During her husband's visit with us, I learned a great deal about my niece. I learned how she had supported her husband in his career, had raised two beautiful sons who are very successful in their careers. I learned that her husband, who had been her primary caregiver for sometime now, is absolutely devastated by her death, even though it released him from his caregiving. I learned how she constantly talked about Uncle Dave (that's me) and how I would come up from San Diego (US Navy) and visit them on weekends. I also learned that after learning about her grave illness and phoning her, she told one of her sisters that she could now go peacefully since she and I had reconnected. She died less than a week later.

I grieve for my beautiful niece, but I grieve more for the years that I was not connected to this wonderful spiritual woman. WHAT A WASTE ! I am joyful that I finally did for just that one moment, and I am joyful that I will see her again in Heaven.

To my readers: Don't let family and friends drift away, no matter what the reason.