One of the first times happened 6 years ago. We found out in March 2007 my Uncle Timmy was really sick; he had cancer. I was interning at the University of Alabama at the time, right up until a few days before my graduation. I planned on leaving a few days early to go see him, because they were saying he probably wouldn't make it much longer. On May 3rd, my Dad drove down to Alabama to help me move out of my dorm apartment. I had planned on driving straight from Tuscaloosa, AL to Cincinnati, OH--a 7 hour drive. My Dad said I should grab a bite to eat with him before I drove straight through. We were sitting in TGI Fridays when my mom called my cell and asked to speak to my dad. That wasn't a good sign. She told my Dad my Uncle Timmy had passed away. I missed him by one day. I was devastated. I was like 3 or 4 days away from graduating--something my Uncle had always wanted for me. I still drove to Cincinnati, but for his funeral instead of his bedside. That same day I had to drive back to walk in my ceremony the next day.
It really hurt to know my Uncle, a man who had always supported me and who had even helped me find confidence in myself through officiating softball, wouldn't be there. I sat through my graduation ceremony. My Aunt and cousins (my Uncle Timmy's wife and sons) sat in the bleachers of Diddle Arena and witnessed with my family what my Uncle Timmy couldn't. Then something miraculous happened.
President Gary Ransdall, the president of my undergraduate school, quoted the lyrics from Rod Stewart's "Forever Young." My Uncle's song. The song that, every time it came on the radio, he would blare it and make us all stop and listen. My Uncle made my graduation! He must have known there was no way in his physical state he would have been able to make it when he was alive. So he made sure he made it in death. I remember walking out of my ceremony and the first person I came to was my Aunt. I walked straight up to her and said "Well, Uncle Timmy made it." She looked back at me and said "He sure did. He wouldn't have missed it for the world."
Since then, I have only heard His Song a few times on the radio. Always right when I needed to. When I gave birth to my daughter, one of the first thoughts I had our first night with her, after visiting hours were over and every one had left our room, was a sad one. I was sad because there were members of our families Emma would never meet. She would never meet her uncle on her daddy's side, her older brother, her grandma's dad, my Aunt Kim, my stepdad's mom and dad, my Uncle Junior, my Uncle Bill, my Papaw Lawrence, my Nammers or Beer Pap to name a few... and she would never meet my Uncle Timmy.
I seemed to have forgotten how powerful these spirits can be. How determined they can be to make it for those major life moments. Because my Uncle Timmy did come to see my little girl.
Two nights ago, I could NOT get Emma to calm down. She was fussy... didn't need to eat... didn't need a diaper change... She was just fussy. I took her downstairs with me while I switched the laundry over. I turned my iPod on random so there was some music going. Then "Forever Young" came on. And she stopped fussing. She and I danced around the basement for the whole song.
I know in my heart that was my Uncle Timmy coming to meet my little girl.
And I know he loved her.
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