i love my uncle jon. he is a crazy guy, full of love and life... my mom calls him the black sheep of the family, and when they were kids he really was. he was the youngest out of four, and by the time he came around i think my grandparents were just plain tired, so he got away with pretty much anything ...

he isn’t perfect, he dropped out of high school, smokes and when it comes to examples, he isn’t the greatest, or rather i should say, he wasn’t. now he is married, and works his ass off everyday to keep his head above water. he realizes his mistakes, but doesn’t regret a minute of his life. he is intelligent. he recognizes the reality of the world today and his faults, and wants only the best for his family.

Every time i see him i am reminded of just how good life is. he loves me to death, which he tells me, and i can always see the love radiating from his eyes. he is proud of my mother, for raising such wonderful children, so he says, and i think sometimes he thinks of us as his own.

yesterday i got into my truck to drive him down to the hardware store in town, and at first i thought he wasn’t coming, because he stood outside just looking. Then he got in sat down next to me, and looked at me with his dark brown eyes, full of tears, and told me that i was going places in the world. he told me that i wasn’t a little girl anymore, but overnight i grew into a young woman, and that scared him more than anything. we sat in the driveway for a good half hour while he told me all about when i was a baby, and how he used to baby-sit me, and what i did as a goofy little kid, and even though i had heard all of the embarrassing, and stupid stories a million times before i let him tell me again. and this time they took on a different meaning. the stories he told me, were no longer about me and my brother, but they were about him. he never included himself in the stories other than saying, and then you said to me.... but i will never forget the way he told me those stories, and the love and detail he remembered about each moment.

i find it amazing how we impact other people's lives... love is such a strange and wonderful emotion. And I love my uncle jon, he is a wonderful, wonderful man. i wish sometimes i had his bright outlook on life....

much love,

katie