Saturday, November 14, 2015 I attended memorial services for my Uncle Burke. It has been hard to say goodbye to him. Not because I was super close to him, because I wasn't. But yet, I was. He was a rare individual that I could feel my soul trusted. This is so difficult to explain, because sometimes he could be pretty gruff and I would remember to be intimidated by him. But I always new if I was ever to need anything, I would be able to ask him and I knew he would help me out.
He chose to be cremated, so instead of the regular type of pall bearers carrying his casket, friends and family carried in some of his items, like wood, his dutch ovens, hard hat, plumbing wrench, fishing equipment, etc. Items that made him who he was, like the coins he would always have in his pocket to hand out to the grand kids.
When we were last in Moab, I gave him a friendship bracelet I had made while we were camping. I tied it onto his scooter basket. He looked at it closely, kissed me in thanks, and then said "Make damn sure they bury me with it." That trip was the last time I saw him. He and I both knew it would be. I'm glad I had the chance to tell him I loved him before we parted.
I don't know if the original bracelet made it into his box, so I brought another one with me, just to be damn sure.
For some reason, his passing has marked a changing of the seasons for me. Every time I went to Moab, he was there. And now he's not. I still have plenty of family there, Aunts, lots of cousins, etc. but right now it doesn't feel the same.
Uncle Dick, Aunt Gerrie, Glen, and Roxey
Changes.
For more photos of the service, please click here:
