Seth and Uncle Lyle

There have been 2 family deaths in the last couple of weeks; Seth Paul Davis, who was the son of my cousin Brenda and her late husband, Robert. Seth was only 35 years old. Last time I saw Seth he was 5 or 6. Brenda is in the last stages of MS and isn't expected to live much longer. Five days later my Uncle Lyle died. He had been on hospice for awhle. He was in his 80's. He had had a hip replacement and some other health problems. I have good memories of him. He was my grandparents only son out of 8 children. I wanted to mostly remind myself of how fragile and precious life is. I love the memories I have of my Uncle Lyle. He was good, kind, caring, a little misguided when it came to the Church. He loved fishing (especially in the ocean on the big boats) and loved his family. I remember his laugh and how fun he was. Dale and I got to see him and his family a few times when we lived in California. I only wish we had spent more time visiting them in Riverside - its not like we lived that far away....only about an hour. One of my memories that means so much to me is, when my mom died, Uncle Lyle flew into Idaho Falls. We met him at the airport. He stayed with me the entire time he was there; the viewing, funeral, all of it. He was a dad, of sorts, to me at that time. He didn't leave my side. What a special man. Since my aunts, dad, daughter and some of the other family members live only 2-3 hours away, I've put my priorities back in order and am going to visit as many as I can fit in, in two days time this next week. Then I'll make a plan to make the 4-5 hour trek to Boise/Nampa to see my son and his family and 2 of my half-sisters. I don't want to miss opportunities that are so close, near and dear. I love my family.