mandysee_mandydo | Remembering Uncle Phil

Saturday morning my mother called me at the store to let me know that Uncle Phil had passed away. I knew before she even told me. He was quite elderly and had been in and out of the hospital a couple times recently with pneumonia, which is usually a trusty indicator that the end is nigh. While I will certainly miss Uncle Phil, I'm not sad. He lived a very long and fruitful life. I hope he had a very peaceful crossing.

Since I can't be present for the wake or funeral, I thought I would share my fond memories of Uncle Phil.

He was a good man and enjoyed a good laugh. He also liked his jigsaw puzzles.

He was very short and we used to give him a lot of grief about that.

He was raised to be very traditional when it came to men showing affection. Men didn't hug or kiss. They shook hands. Every visit I would try to give him a hug and kiss on the cheek and he would pretend to give me a punch in the nose. Then we'd shake hands.

He was Polish, but he loved a good Polish joke. I usually had a few for him in high school.

As a kid, he and Aunt Mary would always have an Atari 2600 in the spare room that they would let me play. He would sometimes come watch me play Pitfall and cheer me on.

I'll miss you Uncle Phil. Hopefully when you get where you're going, they'll have a step stool, a 5,000-piece jigsaw puzzle and gigantic book of Polish jokes waiting for you.

I'll give you a kiss and hug when I get there.