Passing

I'm going to what could be called a wake today... my mom's older brother passed away earlier this week. I'm not sure what of - cancer, infection, pain - but he was only 62. He continues the pattern of (relatively) early deaths for the men on my mom's side of the family.

I think this is the only photo that exists of just him and I. It was taken after my sister's wedding in 2007 on what was the hottest day of the year. After the ceremony, we walked back up the "aisle" (hill) and I ran into Danny and his family with their cooler of beer. I gratefully accepted his offer of a nice, cold, refreshing MGD... it was probably the best drink I've ever had.

I'll miss him, even though we weren't close. It'll take a long time to stop referring to him in the present tense, but I know eventually we'll all come to accept that he's not going to be at the next family event, making fun of my sister or arguing with my mom.

My favourite memory of him is when I traveled east by train to go to school in Quebec. He was a conductor for Via Rail at the time and made the 8 hours we were on the train with him really special and comfortable. When I moved back home a few months later, he'd obviously told his fellow conductors to watch out for me, something I didn't expect and really appreciated.

We'll miss you, Danny :)