Saying Goodbye Again
Without my Uncle Johnny, I have no doubt my life would be much different. My dad earned everything we had when I was a kid, but without my uncle, we wouldn't have been able to get the piece of land we built a house on and lived in. I wouldn't have gone, week after week, month after month, year after year when I was a child to the drive-in movie theatre my uncle and his brother owned, where my love for movies (and Dots!) really took form. I wouldn't have had so many happy memories of being with my family, for birthdays and holidays and Sunday dinners, at my aunt and uncle's house. The playroom downstairs is where I brought so many of the toys Santa and my parents got for me every Christmas, my cousins would do the same, and we'd play with them for hours and hours that day. I loved my uncle very much, and I know he loved me, too, and while we weren't as close over my adult years as I wish we could have been, looking back now, I know life would not be the same for me without him. He had a big heart, a sense of humor that I admired, and was as strong of a man as you could ever find. I'll miss you, Uncle Johnny. Say Hi to my Mom up there, ok?