Why is it.....?

Why is it that the only time you see extended family members and friends is at funerals and reunions? It is so sad, but because our lives are so busy and our family grows so much that our immediate family when we were small becomes our extended as we grow and the less we see of them. So, I attended a funeral last Friday of my last "elder" generation uncle. Now I am down to only my Aunt left and then the elder generation will be "ME"and my cousins!!! Yikes, what happened?

So, here is his story from my viewpoint. Uncle George married into our family many years ago (He married my Mom's sister, Edna). He was a really great guy. Born in upstate New York, he was quite a phenomena for us Southerners. (He talked funny with that "Yankee" accent) Except for his accent, he became a true southerner, Mr hospitality, Mr Congeniality....he was it. We adored him. When I graduated from high school, I went to live with them for a very short period of time while I found an apartment in the big city. He always had advice for me and I really did listen and respect him for it and I just loved my Aunt Edna. They were so cool. Having lived overseas for about 8 years, I thought they were just so cool. They did things like I saw on TV. They had cocktails, went to parties, were members of the lodge, lived in exotic places- they were what we considered "rich" people.

When I got married and had kids, they would come to visit, but because our son was having trouble remembering his name, he got stuck with a nickname. One day he was asking me about him and I was trying to figure out who he was talking about and he said, "You know, Uncle Beer"......(he always had a beer in his hand)...well that stuck. To this day, my kids still refer to him as Uncle Beer. Anyway, he was 88 years old. He was diagnosed with colon cancer on Aug 7 and approximately 2 weeks and 2 days later, he succumbed to the dreadful disease. His funeral was full to capacity. He was very well known, respected and loved. I got to see cousins that I haven't seen in probably 30 years and I got to meet some of his family that I had never met before. It actually was great and sad at the same time. Great in the fact that I met and heard some wonderful things about him that I either didn't know or didn't remember. Sad that it took a funeral and his death for that to transpire.