Saying Goodbye to an Uncle

I am sitting here in the Phoenix airport typing away on my laptop as I wait for my red-eye flight home. Am I cool or what(except that I am feeling a little red eyed, awe so tired)? I made the trip back to AZ this weekend to attend the funeral of my Uncle Dan. Uncle Dan was one of my dads older brothers. He and my aunt Teresa and his family lived only a mile from our home my entire life. My cousins were our best friends growing up. I have posted a little about the remote area where my childhood happened and having this family close by was the best part of living in our little community.

It was sad to see my best friends lose their dad and my father lose another brother, but it was wonderful to be reminded of the good man my uncle was. As I sat listening to my cousins stories of their dad, I was reminded of the different ways he had influenced my life too.

My uncle Dan was a completely righteous man with his feet so permanently planted in gospel principles that he could entertain questions with a more open mind than I have ever seen. In family discussions( because when you are visiting with my Uncle Dan, aimless visiting soon turned into deeper discussions) he could make you look at all sides of the argument, and I mean all SIDES. He could make you feel compassion for the serial murderer, though upholding his guilt and punishment all at the same time! This attribute probable helped him the most as he served as the Branch President in our little congregation for over eighteen years. I will always be grateful for my early exposure to his many different points of view.

One other reason I will always be grateful to my Uncle Dan and Aunt Teresa is for the good children they raised. I have three cousins that are older than me(all boys). These boys are very intelligent and very hardworking, because of the teachings of their parents. All three graduated as valedictorians of our high school, and all three were decorated athletes and active in many different clubs. As I entered high school, I came with my Skousen surname and was immediately expected by my classmates and teachers to carry on the tradition. And amazingly enough I did it, and it wasn't so hard, because I had cousins who had done it to.

And lastly, my aunt and uncle gave me my best friend growing up. My cousin Tracy was a year younger than me. She was on many occasions my saving grace. If at any point I thought about wavering in my standards she was always there with her stalwart example, plus she was fun to be around. I like to say that Gracie is named after Tracy. We used to call Tracy, Lacey or Lace, which in the naming process morphed into Gracie.

And Adam did great with the girls all weekend. He got them to their appropriate schools on Friday, tiled our new shower on Saturday(pictures coming sometime), and dressed them all for church on Sunday(he even sent me a photo Sunday morning entitled "See I did it")

Overall I had a wonderful Valentine's weekend.