family

as much as i complain and bellyache about my family and the life situation that i've been dealt, i still love my family very much. this has been made more so present than recent events.

on thursday, october 14th, my uncle pete unexpectedly died of what we believe was an aortic aneurysm. he went to work and left due to not feeling well, came home and became disoriented and coded on his way to the hospital, never to wake back up. it's still hard, harder than i thought, to fully wrap my head around the notion that he's not coming home or that his car outside doesn't mean that he's inside, waiting. he and i didn't always get along and more often than not, i thought he was a goober. he had lame jokes and always waited for me to give him a high five and would bother me at the most inconvenient times but i loved him dearly. i loved how he would always forget to tuck in his shirt or how he knew random sports and music trivia, i loved how he would be nice to the meanest person and how he would tell me that i looked pretty on days when i felt anything but.

i'm grateful for the time and the memories that i have with and of him. i'm grateful that he went quickly and didn't feel any pain. i'm grateful that friends and family have banded around my core family to help us through it. i'm grateful for every day that i wake up and can tell people that i love them. because in the face of this shit that befell us so suddenly, i'm made more grateful for the friends and family that i have and i never want to neglect telling people that i adore them. the hurt will get better with time, i know, but for right now, i'm so happy that i had my uncle pete.