Where does the time go? In my post from yesterday, it didn't seem possible that so much time had elapsed since Kerri was born and also since Cameron was born.
I remember the day that Kerri was born in 1974. It had been a long labor, but I remember the one thing that I was worried about at that time. Not the length of the labor, but the date that she was born.
I wanted it to happen before August 30. You see, that was the date in 1969 that my dear Uncle Johnny died. He meant so much to me and I didn't want the dates to be the same.
He died unexpectedly of an aneurysm on August 30, 1969. He had gone to the mountains to go fishing and had stopped because of some car trouble on the way back. He was transported to the hospital in Douglas where he lived for a very short time. He had a terrible pain in his stomach and it turned out to be an aneurysm.
I still remember the call that we received in the middle of the night to get to the hospital as soon as possible. By the time we got there, he was gone. I remember sitting in the living room with Judy and listening to the phone calls that my mom and Teresa made to the family to tell them about what had happened. I remember thinking that I didn't want to hear it one more time.
That summer I had worked at the smelter after attending ASU. Johnny was so proud that I was working there to make money for college. He worked in the power plant at the smelter. Earlier that month, my mom, Teresa, and Judy had gone to California for my cousin Jan's wedding. So it was just Johnny and I for about a week. It was a great time because we were able to talk and laugh about many things. I knew how proud he was that I was going to college and that I was working at the smelter.
I remember sitting in the living room with him at the end of July watching the landing on the moon when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. Johnny was so excited about this historical event.
I also remember that summer after he died and I was still working at the smelter in the human resources department. I remember having to remove his personnel file after died. I was only 20 years old at the time and it left a lasting impression on me.
To this day I am so grateful that I had this wonderful man in my life!!! He was just an ordinary man who went to work every day and never drew attention to himself. After he died, we found out about all of the little things that he had done for a lot of elderly people around Douglas. He would go to their houses and change light bulbs or fix things for them, but he never told anyone. It was so touching to find out how many people he had helped over the years in his kind and gentle way.
Johnny was my mom's oldest brother. I have written about him before and I will say again how much he meant to me and to Judy. He was truly a man of character in every sense of the word.
"Those we love are never really gone as long as their stories are told." I tell my own children and Cameron stories about Johnny as often as I can.
Feb. 5, 1903-Aug. 30, 1969
