My Brother...Your Uncle Bill

My brother…your Uncle Bill, was the first sibling in the Smith Family to die. When we found out he had Melanoma, it was hard to face the fact that one day he would be gone. Uncle Bill was the third oldest of eight children and was a part time minister for the United Church of Christ, so he was the one the family always turned to when we needed comfort. Now, my brother…your Uncle Bill needed our support and comfort.

During the seven years after finding out he had this terrible disease, he and Aunt Charr planned his memorial service. Besides being a minister, he was also a professor at a community college in Pleasant Hill, CA, so the memorial service was held there and several hundred people attended.

Before Uncle Bill died, he and Aunt Charr also made plans for a family memorial service to be held at their beach house in Dillon Beach, CA. He wanted Uncle Hank to scatter his ashes in the ocean near the house that he and Aunt Charr built.

Aunt Charr invited the family to spend the weekend with her. Knowing Uncle Bill would want us to, we played horseshoes and sat around laughing, crying and telling stories and remembering our brother…your Uncle Bill. Dr. Norberg, a minister and family friend, led us in song and prayer as we all stood on the hillside overlooking the ocean while Uncle Hank made the long-lonely walk down to scatter Uncle Bill’s ashes.

One of my best memories of Uncle Bill was when he’d visit our house when you were little and he would walk around the living room checking the tables and bookcase to see how well I dusted. This was a joke for years and we called it the “white glove test” and once he even brought a white glove to put on to see if I had really dusted. That was my brother…your Uncle Bill.