Uncle Dan

The sun isn't even up yet, too early for me. But I had to get up to take Christianne to school in the dark because she made it into jazz band. She was up since 5, and excited. And that of course makes me happy, even if it is still dark outside.

My uncle passed away yesterday. He was only 52, such a short life, but a hard one. I don't have that many memories of Uncle Danny, unfortunately, just a handful. But as I got older, he was growing up and starting a family and then moving away. We really lost contact after that.

But when I was young, I remember he was cool. Just 12 years older than me, he was a teenager and young adult when I was a kid, and that's cool. I remember Grandma and Grandpa D gave me a boombox one Christmas, a pink one, and two cassette tapes - some CMA winners compilation and Disco Mickey Mouse. (I still know most of the songs from Disco Mickey Mouse.) So that must've made me, what, about 8 or 10? But the thing that fascinated me most was that it had tape recording capabilities - what fun for a kid! Enter cool Uncle Danny. He didn't have any blank cassettes, but he Scotch-taped over the little holes in a David Bowie cassette so I could record all the goings-on of the day.

I didn't even know who David Bowie was for years.

Anyway, please keep the family in your prayers - Dan's children, brothers, and sisters most of all.

Love you, Uncle Danny, and I'm looking forward to seeing you again.

xoxo