Today we found out that my Uncle Gail past away. It was not anything sudden, we had known for a while that this was going to happen. He had cancer that had spread to his lungs. He already had his vocal chords removed and had a tracheotomy and had to talk with a mechanical device. That happened a couple of years ago. Unfortunately as time went on things got worse and inevitably he ended up losing his life to it. As I sit today and think about my Uncle Gail there are so many good things that I remember about him. He had been such a big part of our lives, since I was little. He married my Aunt Rick and adopted her son Christopher. They lived in Arizona at the same time we did so as kids my parents would take us up to Mesa it seemed like almost every week and we would spend the weekend with them. He had the loudest laugh and voice ever. One thing that I truly missed when he lost his vocal chords. His sense of humor was amazing. He would make you laugh so hard you would cry. I remember how loving he was to me. Being an overweight kid/teenager life can be so hard. Hard at home, hard at school, just plain hard everywhere. Being a girl with the images that are supposed to be, and your body not fitting into them makes life miserable. It was very hard for me to see myself as beautiful. There was an image that I didn't fit, therefore I must not be beautiful. My Uncle Gail may have realized this, maybe he saw through me, maybe because he had daughters of his own knew what I was going through made a special effort to make me feel beautiful. He always told me that I was beautiful. That I had a beautiful smile or eyes. It wasn't in a sick or twisted way, it was in a very loving caring manner. He was never afraid to show affection. He was always there with a laugh, a hug, a joke. When I was a kid we moved from Utah to Arizona. It was a very difficult time for our family. My Aunt Rick and Uncle Gail drove up to Arizona with us. I got to ride in their car for the whole trip. I remember he sang and let me sit in the front seat. He asked if I wanted ice cream or soda. Which to a kid is huge. I remember falling asleep in the car and waking up in the morning and he looked over and said "good morning beautiful". These are very simple memories for a child at that age they are priceless. When I got married he and my aunt lived in Utah and I got married in Arizona. I knew that it was a long drive for them. My Aunt has MS and I knew traveling was difficult. I did not expect them to come. At the end of my reception after driving all day and night in walked my Uncle Gail with my Aunt. I felt so bad because the reception was almost over and Adam and I were almost ready to leave. I had already gotten out of my wedding dress. I went over to hug him and my aunt, to tell them I was so glad that they were there and he lovingly hugged me, slipped me some money and told me again how beautiful I was. Since then of course I have had kids, gotten older and life has quietly slipped by. However, everytime we have gone to visit my Aunt Rick he has always been there(they divorced). He would take time out of his schedule to come and see me and my family. When he lost his voice box and had to talk with a mechanical device sometimes it was hard to get his sense of humor across. Instead he would make funny noises with his talking machine and make my girls laugh. They will not remember him I am sure, but I am so glad they got to meet him. Every visit he would always tell them that they were beautiful. He made many people laugh, he made many people feel good while they were around him. He had a lot of love to give, and many people to give it too. I know that I felt loved when I was around him. Uncle Gail you will be truly missed. I love you and yes now I know that I am beautiful.
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