And then we say goodbye...

Wow...where do I begin??? December has really brought a lot of opportunities for me to reflect on my life and my relationships. About 2 weeks ago, I started thinking a lot about my Uncle Lynn. Lynn is my mom's younger brother. He has a wonderful wife, Renee, and 5 kids...Chris, Jared, Kim, Shelynn and Jordan. When I was younger, I had many opportunities to spend one on one time with Uncle Lynn. When we lived in Denver, he would come over to visit us and play with us. He was in the Army and would spend many weekends in Denver for his drills and such. I don't remember too many details since I was just a little girl. Anyways....he would always sing "Michelle my bell" to me, carry me around like a sack of potatoes, you name it....anything to make a kid laugh he would be there to do it. All of these memories have come back to me over the last couple of weeks and I just didn't know why. Thursday morning (Christmas Eve morning) I received a message from my cousin, Chris, saying that my Uncle Lynn had passed away. Wow...just out of the blue!!! I have to admit...I didn't show any real emotion at first. The last 15-20 years have been very strained between all of our families because of this, that or the other. I regret not being closer to him over the years. I'm really feeling the emotions today as we get closer to his funeral. He will be buried tomorrow in Taylorsville. He retired from the Army as a Major so he will receive full military honors. I'm praying that the service tomorrow will help us remember the wonderful man he was and how happy he made us all for being him. I still love him and I hope he knows it. I hope he will receive a chance to find forgiveness for the things that he has done in the past so he can continue to be a part of our eternal family. To my cousins....I love you all. I'm the worst at showing it but I really do. I cherish the memories I have of family activities at Grandma and Grandpa Evans' home, or wherever we may have been. I hope we can continue to stay in touch and remain close. To my children...I love you so much. I hope that as you experience the ups and downs in life, you will continue to make the right choices and remember you are Children of God. As we say goodbye to Uncle Lynn, let's say hello to those good memories and carry them in our hearts forever. <3