Aunt Polly and uncle Paul.

My extended family is an intelligent and funny one. Out of all of them, no one has a better sense of humor than my uncle Paul.

He was 17 when my father (an “oops” baby) was born. Uncle Paul went off to Germany to fight in WWII soon after my dad arrived upon the scene. So he didn’t have a lot of experience with babies.

Once while home on leave, he changed my dad’s diaper but my dad was still crying. Come to find out, he had safetypinned the diaper TO THE BABY. My dad must have forgiven him, because that story was told every year at the family reunion, my dad laughing along with everyone else.

During his time serving in Germany, he must have seen a lot of things because he was right there in it, fighting on the front lines. During a visit to his home when I was a teenager, he showed me a german solider’s helmet he brought back from the war, along with other Nazi artifacts he obtained from dead german soliders. Always looking for the joke even at that young age, he told of being on patrol and coming across a dead german. He put the soliders coat and helmet on, then went back to his camp and jumped out of the bushes: “Look at me! I’m a GEEERRRRMMAAANN!”

He said that wasn’t so smart, and probably the closest he came in the whole war to being shot.

Being around uncle Paul was being around laughter. Like my uncle Harve (his brother), uncle Paul was an expert storyteller and he loved history. There truly never was a dull moment with uncle Paul around.

When my aunt Polly (his wife) died back in the late ’90’s, uncle Paul was depressed and never did seem to come out of it. As his years alone passed, he developed heart problems. Then the most heartbreaking diagnosis of all: Alzheimers.

About three weeks ago, my cousins (with his agreement) finally came to the conclusion that they couldn’t let him live by himself any more. They arranged for a nice apartment for him in an assisted living facility. A week after moving in, one of my cousins arrived to visit him and couldn’t find him in his room. They found him unconscious, lying in the garden under a hot Louisiana sun.

After the stroke, his children kept constant vigil at his bedside. Struggling to swallow and stand, he had good days and bad. Then he had a pulmonary emblolism, then his kidneys started to fail.

This dear man passed away this morning.

Uncle Paul, you’ve been lonely and lost since your wife died several years ago, and I know you’re with her now. I can see your spirit going anywhere in the world it wants to go now, no longer held back by a body that is tired and worn out, and a mind encumbered by the fog of Alzheimers.

I don’t know for sure about God, heaven, or the afterlife, but I do believe that energy doesn’t die, and you my dear were all energy.

Thank you for being such a good dad to my four cousins, who are just amazing people. Thank you for your years of teaching college students geography. I sat in on one of your classes once, so I know first-hand that you were a brilliant and engaging teacher. Thank you for everything you’ve brought to my life. I love you and I’ll miss you very much.