My last phone conversation with Uncle Francis

A few days ago I called up my Uncle Francis. I had actually intended to call him last week or maybe even as long as a month ago because my Uncle Rich had called me telling he was asking for my address because my Aunt Dot was looking to send me something. Anyway I didn't get back to Uncle Francis a couple days ago. He had already gotten my address but I wanted to talk to him for some reason. So I guess my call was kind of random. At any rate it's a good thing I called because as it turned out, he died today.

What did we talk about?

I think I mentioned the snow and he, being from Florida, told me a story which I had heard him relate before. Actually first he started in with the, "Oh yeah it's cold down here too you know I think it went down to 40 the other day. You know last week I was getting worried because the air conditioning broke. I'm standing outside right now with my shorts on and yeah I feel a bit of a breeze."

You know that kind of thing.

Actually no, first he started with, "Oh yeah we gotta lot a snow down here in Florida too.... except it's cocaine."

Then came the teasing about the weather.

 Then came the story, "When I was 10 years old, I was getting off of the elevated train in Philly and I stepped into an icy puddle. Frozen on top but not enough to stop the water from soaking right through to my shoe. I swore. And I knew, at that moment, when I was only ten years old, that I was going to live my adult life in a warm climate." he had told me this story shortly after I went down to Florida for a Christmas Visit after my mother had died. Apparently he continued to talk to my mom after she had died. He went on with his story though.
"What I didn't know when I was 10 was that the first warm climate that I would live in....would be Vietnam. There's always an asterix to everything."

I told the story about how a couple miles from the house there was a little Chinese Community and how strange that was to me, and how the restaurant Grace went to beat the hell out of anything in Boston. We talked about when I took him to Chinatown Cage up here and got 6 dollar duck and the food court (DPD) which is gone. And then he told me he went to some place with his wife out in California and how they

"They had the thing where they come out the kitchen with the stuff in the carts. I don't know what the hell they call it."

"Oh Dim sum?"

"Yeah yeah! Thats' it.. Anyway that was pretty good."

Mostly we talked about our kids, which was new for us because it was only the last three times that I talked with him that I had children.

"You still doing the Kung Fu thing?" he asked
"Yeah but mostly I just teach my kids."
"Well that's cool. At least you don't have to worry they come home with a bloody nose. You know my youngest Danny, he didn't need Kung Fu though." and he related some other stories I had even heard as a child and ended with, "Now he's 27 though. Can you believe that? Can you imagine having your youngest child be 27?"

I said that I couldn't.

"Neither can I but here I am and he is."

A mechanic that had to show up to do some work or other did and so we had to go. We said goodbye. I could always call later to talk. I always enjoyed the story telling. I just never seemed to call as often any more. But as I said goodbye it was like I would call more often, maybe next week.

Every time I come away from talking to my Aunts and Uncles, the brothers and sisters of my mother, well first of all I guess they are all different people, but I get a renewed sense of who I am, which is completely different than who I am as a person usually. Ehhh but that's for another blog post. The only thing is that now that Uncle Francis is dead it's like yet another part of myself isn't gone so much, but it's like that side of me is not a living person anymore, but a part of me. Or I acknowledge that it has to be a part of me. I don't  really know. But when my mom died I started to get more in touch with that side of me. Is that what I'm trying to say? Yeah well the same is true of Uncle Francis.

Well everyone likes to say rest in peace. But I don't know if I believe that. I plan on talking to Uncle Francis more often now that he's dead. After all my mom is too. Go and raise hell. I imagine that will be more fun in that other plane. And I imagine I'd have more a chance of feeling a presence that way. Well in any case, whatever a soul does, if there is a soul, and I believe there is, enjoy yourself.