So on July 19th Marshall and I had planned on going to Mt. Tamalpais to do a 10 mile hike with “V” and some people from the Stanford Outing group. I woke up early to get ready and was surprised to get a call from my sister (she works very hard so sleeping in on a weekend is the norm for her) which is when I found out that my Uncle Terry had suddenly passed away. Click….
My Uncle Terry had been diagnosed with a life-threatening heart condition a year ago and actually went through a procedure earlier in the year to stop and then restart his heart to try and get it to settle into a normal heartbeat pattern. Unfortunately it did not work and he passed away from a heart attack that Saturday morning.
That whole day I was kind of in shock. I think we all were. My Uncle Tim was down at my parents house installing a sprinkler system that morning and instead of heading home after learning of the news, he stayed and finished the work. I talked to my mom on the phone before she headed down to my grandma’s and she sounded calm and collected. Heather and Jeriah kept their plans to go down to my grandma’s in Salinas to cut down a tree for her and Heather said my grandma was out there helping. Yeah, I think we were all in shock. All that changed once we had a chance to stop and think about what had happened. It hit me pretty hard and yeah, I cried.
It’s kind of funny how when someone passes away we are finally able to see things in perfect clarity. In my case I realized how amazing my Uncle Terry was and was greatly saddened to think how I had let myself emotionally detach from that relationship after he moved to Arkansas. I hope if anything can come out of this tragedy I will learn to value my family more and be able to see now what seems to only be apparent when someone passes away.
Thank you Uncle Terry for being a wonderful brother to my mom and a great Uncle to all us kids. You were truly an amazing person. We love you! =)
Mom and Uncle Terry in January
Pictures from 8/9 when we had a Celebration of Life for Uncle Terry at my grandma’s house in Salinas.
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