God Speed Uncle Jeff

Today I received a phone call from my sister, any time someone starts out a conversation with are you driving. You kind of brace yourself for the worst. She said,

"It's Jeff....

he's gone..."

A neighbor found him. I am his only related family member in the area, it was comforting to know he was close. He does have a family who has been so amazing to him and they have taken him in as their own over the years, and he was like a grandpa/dad to them they will miss him so much as well. I just found out last week he had to have a surgery to remove his gall bladder and to clear a passage to his liver. But I guess after that he had reached his limit and decided this was the best way to go. I am hit so hard by this, as I am ready to depart from here. I went through my emails and realized I did try to get him closer to his family... I knew things weren't easy for him financially. and his health was deteriorating due to a loss of hope and stress.

Here is an email I sent him a few months ago trying to get him to make a change. I did try...

Hi Jeffrey!

How are you doing?
we are back from our travels and wanted to see how things are with you.
Before we left you didn't seem that great, are things moving in a better direction with business?

We looked at some rentals while we were home. It is so much cheaper to live there it is crazy.

If you want to move with us, just say the word. We are trying to move by April. I think we are actually going to do it.
Lets meet at the dog park this weekend, maybe on Saturday morning?

If that doesn't work out maybe we can do an early dinner at our house one night next week...

Here is a pic of my mom when we surprised her for Xmas.

talk soon,

Love. D

I will miss him, I met him often at the dog park to talk and walk with our dogs. He was always interested in hearing about our life and Van. Here are a couple photos of Jeff and Van that I took recently. I will miss you Jeff. I wish you decided to move with us. I hope you are in a better place where there is no more pain in your heart.

Life is a funny thing, it is what you make of it, isn't it?

Uncle Mike is Home From Iraq

Well Van's Uncle came home from Iraq last Friday. He was the Commanding Officer of his unit (about 110 men) & truly a hero in our eyes! He deployed for Iraq a few weeks after Van was born.

This is Uncle Mike holding Van right before he left. It was so amazing watching them come home, marching almost in silence down the road from where they dropped off their weapons.




Coming home to their loved one's and Mike following them up from behind. They marched right up to the crowd and stood at attention until Mike dismissed them, and then I was in a sea of people searching for their men that just came home after seven months of fighting.




I felt the adrenaline rushing through my veins and the energy was so thick in the air you could almost see it. As I walked through the crowd looking for Mike, I had to snap some photos of these people reuniting with such energy and love. It was truly a release of emotions for everyone who was there, their is always a level of uncertainty that comes along with having someone you love



deployed. But once you see them again and give them that long awaited hug and kiss the emotions all come pouring out. I think a couple of these guys had not yet met their babies that had been born while they were gone!

















I have been procrastinating about writing this post because I was fearful I could not paint the picture that I saw the right way. But I went for it and here it is, certainly an experience I will never forget.
Thank you Uncle Mike for protecting our family & our country you are a hero to us all.