Remembering Uncle Bob

Today we went to the memorial service for Uncle Bob. I can't say that Bob and I were close, but my personal feeling is that grief is easier when shared, so I wanted to be there to support the members of his (and my) family who were grieving. And you know what? You always learn about the deceased at a funeral, and chances are you see people you ought to see more often. If it weren't so dang sad, funerals would be really cool.

Here are some things I learned about Uncle Bob today:

• Uncle Bob was a union carpenter. 
• He worked on the Kingdome and Seattle Center.
• He built rigging to support shipments sent for the drilling efforts on the North slope.
• He loved Lifetime movies.
• He was a swimmer.
• He ate a lot of icecream. Like, a whole lot. Every day, by the sounds of it.

Because I had the privileged of going to the service with Nana (and Mom and Dad), we also go to swing by the address where she grew up- 510 9th Ave SE. (She says it surprising which things stick in your memory.) The house is gone, but the address is just a few blocks from Meridian, the main drag of Puyallup, and parking for the State Fairgrounds. She told us there used to be a Japanese internment camp on the corner there. That's a bit of local history that I've never really recognized so directly.

We got to see (and hug, and share memories with) some of the farther flung cousins, which was great. It made me really glad I was able to go. Maybe we shouldn't wait until the next funeral to do that again.