I learned that my Uncle entered hospice a few days ago. He’s the son of Grandmother Abbie (Webber Smith Brender).
I always hear the “flavor” of my grandmother’s voice in his voice. His sense of humor and joyful laugh are much like hers as well. He always loves a good joke – and bad jokes too! You can see it in that smile, can’t you?
The picture above was taken at my uncle’s house in July 1999 during a family trip to Iowa. He had a small workshop and had taken up making trivets and Christmas ornaments and other “doodads” with his saw and pieces of scrap wood and siding. The white ornaments he gave us really stand out on our Christmas tree. There is one in this picture right above Lola’s head.
Here are a few of the trivets and decorative items he gave us during our visit. His hobby also reminded me of his mother. Grandma Abbie enjoyed crafting and continued making things for others even as her eyesight was failing.
Before I finished writing this short post today, I learned that another family member of this generation had a setback in the hospital. And so I am reminded of our most precious family treasures and the stories they have to share.
So sorry to hear about your uncle. He was very talented in his skills, even if you just call them doodads! Just as valuable is that skill of preserving memories of these treasures in our family heritage–the people who’ve gone before us–and your blog is doing such a nice job of keeping those memories alive.
Thank you for your nice comment. I didn’t mean to trivialize his talents – just wasn’t sure what to call some of them! 🙂 At this moment in time preserving the memories of the living has taken priority over researching the long dead. I only wish I had started earlier!
We have several of the ornaments Mike made. Each year we hang them on our tree. Your Uncle Mike has always had a wonderful sense of humor – he is so much fun to be with. I always loved hearing him tell about meeting an courting your Aunt Beth! He was proud of her to the end of her life.
We will all miss him!