I was coming home yesterday afternoon from North carolina, and got the worst phone call I have recieved in a couple of years. My last uncle died. He was asking for me after the doctors told him that he didnt have long to live and sent him home from the hospital. Before they could get ahold of me, he passed away. I wouldnt have been able to get back in time anyway,, I was over 9 hours away on the other side of Raleigh, North Carolina working. But it is a comfort to know that I was at least on his heart before he went. I stopped on the side of the road after I got the news to compose myself, and this river was right there. So I got out to reflect a while, and clear my eyes. What I got out of the time was this. Life is like a river. There are calm and smooth areas of everyones life, and then there are the rough and difficult times. "How we deal with death, is as important as when we deal with life."( my sponsor Jim told me that was from the movie-the Outlaw Josie Wales.)
My brother, sister and I spent many summers at Uncle Herman & Aunt Lily's house. We were very close. He was the one back when I was 13, that got me interested in becoming a Mason. We took his pick-up to a family that lived way out of town, that had NO money and NO income. The bed of the truck was full of groceries that he and I had just bought with his paycheck. No good food ( in the opinion of a 13year old) but staple food. You wouldnt believe the condition of the yard/ house/ and lack of everything. Well, he had me unload the truck and put all the sacks on the porch. This couple had to be in there 60-70s. and there was 2 young kids running around playing in the yard. There only son and wife had died in a car accident, and they were the only family that the kids had. After we were thru, my uncle shook the mans hand, and hugs the tear eyed ladys neck, and told me to get into the truck we were heading home. I scratched my head for a while and finally asked him about what we had done. He simply said---" As Masons, it is our duty to help the destitude, and people in need, and thats what we just did". I didnt understand it until many years later, and then I became a Mason. Which is a part of the Shriners, only a different level. He was one of the best Men that I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. One of my heros, like my Dad. I really loved him a bunch. I saw him and Aunt Lily a couple of months or so and was able to get some pics that I will cherish for the rest of my life. They ask me to be a pallbarer for him tomorrow at the funeral. What an honor. And thats all that I have to say on this.