August 22, 1952 - May 4, 2010
This week my Mom's Brother, my Uncle Gary passed away. He was 57 years old. His primary cause of death was cirrhosis of the liver, caused by alcoholism.
I've been putting off this post all week. I started it, saved it, and tried to write it a few times now. I tend to avoid being emotional, but it always ends up catching up to me at some point. I have a very close family and although we knew this was coming, it's still not easy to think about never seeing him again. So, here it goes...
When I was a little kid I remember my Uncle picking me up and taking me places and taking care of me from time to time. At one point, he lived with my Great Grandmother, whom I spent a lot of time with. I remember him always being funny and very caring. It wasn't until I was around 10 or 11 that I became aware of how bad my Uncle's drinking was. He drank from the time he woke up until he went to bed, every single day. Still, it was "normal" for me to see people drinking and doing whatever. So, even then I never really realized the severity of his situation.
There are other alcolholics in my family, but my Uncle Gary is in a class of his own. Drinking, and a lot times drugs, carried him through life.
As far as I know, he never went through treatment. I don't even know if that would have even helped. It helped my grandma (Ammy) get sober and stay sober.
But, other family members getting help only helped them for a while. It angers me to think that his life was ruined by an addiction. He had no relationship with his three kids. I don't believe that was entirely his doing but, his way of life was a reason. I see other people I love hurting themselves like this and it makes me want to scream. Besides the alcoholism and addiction in my family, alcohol also played a role in the death of my cousin, Ryan. He was 16 (I was 13 at the time) and was killed walking to my house by a hit-and-run drunk driver. (That whole story is for another time, maybe.)
My point is, all of these things were reasons for me to go Straight Edge (complete drug and alcohol free lifestyle) about 12 years ago, when I was 19. I don't think there's anything wrong with people (other people) having a drink or getting loose from time to time, I just hate seeing it take over people's lives that I love. Enough said on that.
Uncle Gary was definitely a character. He was known for his hilarious, usually inappropriate jokes. I have many funny memories of him.
Here are a few:
*He stole cowboy boots and wranglers from K-Mart when I was a kid and we had to go get him from jail.
*When I was really young, he was sleeping on our couch and he thought the door to the downstairs was the door to the bathroom and he peed down our carpeted stairs. The carpet had to be taken out.
*I came home one day (during my late teens) and uncle gary ran out of my house in his underwear.
*Christmas about 6 or so years ago, he pulled out a bag of weed at the dinner table to show everyone what his friend got him for xmas.
*(I wasn't there) But he punched my brother Joshy in his face at his high school graduation party. Joshy was instigating this.
*This past summer was the last time I got to see Uncle Gary, at my diaper party. He was looking frail, but still funny as ever. Justin interviewed him about his tattoos. Here is the link. Warning: It may be offensive to some :)Uncle Gary's Story Time
This week my Mom's Brother, my Uncle Gary passed away. He was 57 years old. His primary cause of death was cirrhosis of the liver, caused by alcoholism.
I've been putting off this post all week. I started it, saved it, and tried to write it a few times now. I tend to avoid being emotional, but it always ends up catching up to me at some point. I have a very close family and although we knew this was coming, it's still not easy to think about never seeing him again. So, here it goes...
When I was a little kid I remember my Uncle picking me up and taking me places and taking care of me from time to time. At one point, he lived with my Great Grandmother, whom I spent a lot of time with. I remember him always being funny and very caring. It wasn't until I was around 10 or 11 that I became aware of how bad my Uncle's drinking was. He drank from the time he woke up until he went to bed, every single day. Still, it was "normal" for me to see people drinking and doing whatever. So, even then I never really realized the severity of his situation.
There are other alcolholics in my family, but my Uncle Gary is in a class of his own. Drinking, and a lot times drugs, carried him through life.
As far as I know, he never went through treatment. I don't even know if that would have even helped. It helped my grandma (Ammy) get sober and stay sober.
But, other family members getting help only helped them for a while. It angers me to think that his life was ruined by an addiction. He had no relationship with his three kids. I don't believe that was entirely his doing but, his way of life was a reason. I see other people I love hurting themselves like this and it makes me want to scream. Besides the alcoholism and addiction in my family, alcohol also played a role in the death of my cousin, Ryan. He was 16 (I was 13 at the time) and was killed walking to my house by a hit-and-run drunk driver. (That whole story is for another time, maybe.)
My point is, all of these things were reasons for me to go Straight Edge (complete drug and alcohol free lifestyle) about 12 years ago, when I was 19. I don't think there's anything wrong with people (other people) having a drink or getting loose from time to time, I just hate seeing it take over people's lives that I love. Enough said on that.
Uncle Gary was definitely a character. He was known for his hilarious, usually inappropriate jokes. I have many funny memories of him.
Here are a few:
*He stole cowboy boots and wranglers from K-Mart when I was a kid and we had to go get him from jail.
*When I was really young, he was sleeping on our couch and he thought the door to the downstairs was the door to the bathroom and he peed down our carpeted stairs. The carpet had to be taken out.
*I came home one day (during my late teens) and uncle gary ran out of my house in his underwear.
*Christmas about 6 or so years ago, he pulled out a bag of weed at the dinner table to show everyone what his friend got him for xmas.
*(I wasn't there) But he punched my brother Joshy in his face at his high school graduation party. Joshy was instigating this.
*This past summer was the last time I got to see Uncle Gary, at my diaper party. He was looking frail, but still funny as ever. Justin interviewed him about his tattoos. Here is the link. Warning: It may be offensive to some :)Uncle Gary's Story Time
I love this picture. Christmas 1980. I am the little blond girl sitting on the guy with the plaid pants lap, that's Uncle Gary. My Mom is standing behind him. This photo is actually pretty hard for me to look at because my Grandma (Ammy) is in it too.
I'm not sure exactly what year this is, maybe 1990 or so, my Brother Joshy is in the background, so funny. This is how I'll always remember Uncle Gary, laughing. Laughing his loud raspy smokers laugh :)
This is from Xmas 2008. This is when I think his hep C and other issues really started to show. He started getting skinny and way older looking. He spilled that beer on the carpet right after this photo was snapped, haha.
I know that this coming xmas when I go home just won't feel right.
Uncle Gary will truly be missed.
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