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Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Uncle Jack's Christmas Card


On November 10, 2015, my Uncle Jack passed away. Even though he lived a long life, his death was unexpected and very sad. 

Uncle Jack was one of my Grandpa's brothers. He never married or had children, so he was always part of our holiday celebrations and family gatherings.



Uncle Jack had some quirky qualities. One thing he always did was bring tons of candy for the kids at Christmas and experienced great joy in passing it out. He gave the adults interesting presents as well. One Christmas, he gave Paul and I a solar powered ferris wheel decoration. It was very strange! But that was Uncle Jack's gift giving style... you never knew what you were going to get!

Even though he was not overweight, Uncle Jack loved to eat. We joked that he would fast for a couple days before family gatherings so that he could have two plates.

Uncle Jack always sent us birthday cards and Christmas cards. Inside, he would always write the nicest messages.

After Uncle Jack passed away, my parents took care of his apartment and giving away/donating his belongings. Uncle Jack was always stocked up on every day household items, so Paul and I "inherited" about 6 huge containers of mouthwash, lots of boxes of band aids, some spices, napkins, and Christmas wrappings. Uncle Jack dated everything he bought, so whenever we use something of his, we are reminded of him because of the date. (We ran out of mouthwash and napkins but are still using everything else!)


We were also given his mattress because it fit on the double bed in our guest room. Uncle Jack always smelled like his cologne of choice (Polo). You know how the sense of smell is most associated with memories? Well every time I get a whiff of the mattress, I am immediately reminded of Uncle Jack! (I don't think it's a bad smell. Paul thinks it's a little strong but I don't mind it.)

Christmas has always loved sleeping on the guestroom bed. Sometimes I get home from work and Christmas trots up to me. I pick him up to give him a huge kiss, and when I stick my nose in his fur, he smells like Uncle Jack! "Chrissy, were you sleeping on Uncle Jack's bed?" I ask him.

Here is my last story about Uncle Jack. Every year when I am taking down my Christmas decorations, I look over the Christmas cards I received to see if there are any worth saving to frame for the next year. I like framing Christmas cards because they are a cheap and easy decoration. I choose the cards according to the design, not who it is from. Well, a couple weeks after Uncle Jack died, I was putting up my Christmas decorations. At the bottom of one of the boxes, I saw a small pile of Christmas cards I had saved from the year before. There were four. My heart leaped. What if one of the cards I saved was from Uncle Jack? How awesome would that be?

One by one, I slowly opened each card to see who it was from. I could hardly believe it when I opened up the last card... It was from Uncle Jack! It was the last Christmas card he had sent to us and I had just happened to save it to frame!




I don't know why it has taken me so long to write a post about Uncle Jack because I have been meaning to for awhile! I miss him and family gatherings just aren't the same without him!


17 comments:

  1. That card is very pretty. I'm glad you found it and it made your heart happy!

    How interesting that your uncle dated all of his products. I have never heard of someone doing that before, but it's a clever idea. Like, who would ever guess a box of bandaids from 1990 would still be in use? That's a fun fact!

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    1. Uncle Jack was retired military, in the clerical field. Everything in the military gets dated. That stuck with him after retirement. He even dated his toothbrush! -Peach (Megan's Mom)

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    2. I should have mentioned that in the blog!

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  2. I'm sorry for your loss. The last Christmas card from him is so pretty and would be perfect to frame. I read above about how he was in the military and that's why he dated everything, so interesting.

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    1. He was definitely a record keeper. And those band aids still work fine even thought they are 27 years old. :)

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  3. What a beautiful post Megan! It almost brought a tear to my eye as I read about your Uncle Jack.

    Now my goal is to send you Christmas cards that you might want to frame.... I guess my dog cards aren't going to make the cut....haha

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    1. LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL but I like your card because it was from the blind association, right? Okay next year I expect a frame-able card.

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    2. Yes! It is from Guiding eyes for the blind. It is my favorite charity and I get all my cards from them. They raise labradors as guide dogs. I wanted to apply to be a puppy raiser for guiding eyes but Scott said there is no way I'd be able to raise a dog for 6 months and then give it back. He's probably right! I will be on the look out for cards I think you may think will be frame worthy..haha

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    3. I would not be able to raise a dog for 6 months and give it up either. Our guidance counselor has done that a couple times and more power to her! I'd get too attached.

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  4. I love this post. I have a birthday card that my grandma sent me, her last card she sent me (she died that October). I've always kept it. I feel like handwriting is lost with so many people typing and texting or sending out photo cards that aren't signed, but it has her handwriting in it. I remember inheriting things like that from her house, too.

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    1. I agree, not many handwritten cards anymore and just seeing the picture of Uncle Jack's handwriting on my blog makes me feel closer to him due to the handwriting. I'm glad you have your grandma's card. :) I still hand write my Christmas cards and write messages inside. :)

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  5. You uncle sounds like an awesome person! It is always so hard to lose loved ones.

    Which Polo cologne did your uncle wear? The Brutt aftershave reminds me of my uncle. He passed 5 years ago.





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  6. Great memories! I am so glad you had such an amazing uncle and that you have the nice memories. Thank you for sharing!

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    1. Thanks Susan. We're lucky we have so many memories with Uncle Jack.

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  7. These sound like great memories. My grandmother passed away New Year's Day, and I'm sure my parents and I are going to reminisce about everything this holiday. It was strange at Thanksgiving without her.

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    1. The first round of holidays without a loved one are so hard. It's sad. Even when our grandparents and great aunts/uncles live a long and good life, it is still so sad to lose them.

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