Tuesday, May. 18, 2010
Rest in peace Uncle Jim
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I have not lost many relatives. For that, I feel pretty blessed.
My Grandpa Julian passed on in 1984. My other Grandpa Beaudoin, about 10 years after that. Both of my grandmas live on, though, another thing I am fortunate about.
I don’t spend much time thinking about death, though. But usually the passing of a relative or a traumatic experience makes us all pause and reflect.
Just a few days ago, I lost my Uncle Jim.
Jim wasn’t really a blood uncle, but an extremely close friend of the family and the best man at my parents’ wedding some 43 years ago.
When Uncle Jim was coming over to the house for a get together or holiday, there was just this excitement in the air. He was extremely entertaining to me as a kid and we were usually there at the door waiting for him when he arrived.
Each time he came by, he would arrive with a different bag of loot for us four kids.
One time, each of us got a piggy bank full of change at Christmas. And Uncle Jim never skimped on the treats.
There was a seemingly endless amount of goodies that Uncle Jim would haul over to the house. He always had one of those big cookie tins with the different kinds of cookies inside for the holidays.
But his knack for spoiling us or his contagious smile and laugh were not the only things that made Uncle Jim special.
During one summer, he invited me along to work at the grocery store with him on a couple of Saturday mornings.
Uncle Jim worked in the bakery at the time, which sounded pretty fun to me. We were both up and out the door by 3 a.m. or so to make the doughnuts and other breakfast goods.
And while diabetes and other complications ultimately claimed this special man, the memories my family and I have of our Uncle Jim still make us all smile.
After hearing of his death and a terrifying flight home from Las Vegas this week, I have been in an unusually reflective mood.
I’m not jumping into the priesthood or anything, but I have definitely been left with a different sense of what is important and how we need to continually live each day to our full potential.
I’m not sure I have done that as much as I should lately, but I plan on changing that.
Family, friends and life are pretty darn important. And it took a flight home and losing a friend to remind me of that.
Farewell, Uncle Jim. You were truly an extraordinary influence.
John Beaudoin is publisher of the Blue Springs Journal. To respond to today’s commentary, call 816-282-7001 or e-mail jbeaudoin@bluespringsjournal.com.
