Attended my uncle's funeral today - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

t walgamuth · #1 03-07-2009, 07:54 PM

My uncle passed earlier this week of lung cancer at age 72. He was a dentist in a small town here in Indiana. He also was an alcoholic who abused himself for most of his life but reformed 28 years ago. Unfortunately he continued to smoke until recent years.

I did not know him as well as the folks who knew him from his work and from AA. The funeral was about like any until the presiding minister turned over the mike to anybody who wanted to speak.

Several family members spoke and then folks who had been influenced positively by my uncle in AA began to speak....."Hello my name is Bill" ....."hi bill"...."I am an alcoholic".....and then he went on to share some of his experiences with my uncle. The AA folks took over the funeral. It was truly inspiring.

The procession was the longest I have been a part of and possibly the longest I have seen for a non celebrity person. It was probably a half mile long. I felt sorry for the folks who had to pull over for all of us. When we got to the small rural cemetary we filled all of its three roadways with cars.

It was a unique and interesting experience. I came to know a new side of my uncle that I had only known of a small sliver of.

I quietly prayed that my brother who is a drinking alcoholic would be inspired to start with AA and get clean.

Kuan · #2 03-07-2009, 08:18 PM

Sorry to hear about his passing Tom. Sounds like he touched many lives.

elau · #3 03-07-2009, 08:18 PM

Sorry to hear of your lost.

kerry · #4 03-07-2009, 08:31 PM

Tom:
Sorry to hear of your uncle's death. He wasn't that old.

Kerry

Hatterasguy · #5 03-07-2009, 08:36 PM

Sorry to hear about his passing, it sounds like he was a force for good in many lives.

LUVMBDiesels · #6 03-07-2009, 08:39 PM

Tom,

Our thoughts are with you...

Joe

Matt SD300 · #7 03-07-2009, 10:26 PM

Sorry Tom

.....One must be ready for the next life...For tomorrow is promised to no one...........Every Knee Shall Bow..........

mgburg · #8 03-08-2009, 05:59 AM

Tom:

I'll be heading back to Decatur and to my MIL's place this week to see how she's doing after her first rounds (3 square bags of chemo juice-1/day) and probably be back up at my place, then down there, on and off, for the next few weeks...

She's asked if it's possible I could "Gorilla-Glue" a few pieces of furniture for her while she's still around...she said it would make her feel a bit younger like when the stuff was new so many years ago...that choked me up a little bit when she asked that...she's missing Dad, regarless how he treated her over the years...he was pretty much all she had with all the kids gone and in other states and her friends already having passed away well before their time...

I'll have your uncle in the back of my mind for the next month or so...he was only 6 years younger than Mary and even though she is so small (4' 10" and 102 lbs.), I'm hoping the chemo doesn't get her before it gets the cancer into remission...with the Small Cell Carcinoma, that's the best you can hope for if it's caught early enough in the lungs only...once it's spread, or shows up in other areas (she has 3 or 4 spots on her liver and one on the pelvic bone), then timeline seems to shorten up exponentially...

t walgamuth · #9 03-08-2009, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mgburg

Tom:

I'll be heading back to Decatur and to my MIL's place this week to see how she's doing after her first rounds (3 square bags of chemo juice-1/day) and probably be back up at my place, then down there, on and off, for the next few weeks...

She's asked if it's possible I could "Gorilla-Glue" a few pieces of furniture for her while she's still around...she said it would make her feel a bit younger like when the stuff was new so many years ago...that choked me up a little bit when she asked that...she's missing Dad, regarless how he treated her over the years...he was pretty much all she had with all the kids gone and in other states and her friends already having passed away well before their time...

I'll have your uncle in the back of my mind for the next month or so...he was only 6 years younger than Mary and even though she is so small (4' 10" and 102 lbs.), I'm hoping the chemo doesn't get her before it gets the cancer into remission...with the Small Cell Carcinoma, that's the best you can hope for if it's caught early enough in the lungs only...once it's spread, or shows up in other areas (she has 3 or 4 spots on her liver and one on the pelvic bone), then timeline seems to shorten up exponentially...

Thank you all.

My uncle never gave up. He had a chemo treatment less than a week before dying. I think maintaining hope is such a strong force for survival. Best wishes with your MIL.

Spread some cheer with the Gorilla Glue. Whatever we can do to give a suffering person a boost...

mgburg · #10 03-09-2009, 01:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

Thank you all. ... My uncle never gave up. He had a chemo treatment less than a week before dying. I think maintaining hope is such a strong force for survival. Best wishes with your MIL. ... Spread some cheer with the Gorilla Glue. Whatever we can do to give a suffering person a boost...

Thank you again Tom...I will and my condolences to you and your family...

dannym · #11 03-09-2009, 07:48 AM

My condolences to you and your family.

Danny

SwampYankee · #12 03-09-2009, 07:57 AM

Sorry to hear about your uncle, Tom. It sure sounds like he had an immense impact on a lot of peoples' lives. Our condolences to you and yours.

Gurkha · #13 03-09-2009, 10:26 AM

Sorry to hear about your uncle and can well relate to your situation with your brother. My younger brother in Germany is an alcoholic, at 40 he has severely abused his body and its only through a miracle that he survives, lately he complains of pain in his liver and it truly saddens me to see that and yet its entirely up to him to get out of this trap.

Mistress · #14 03-09-2009, 01:21 PM

Tom, I'm sorry for your loss and be glad he was able to set the bottle aside for how many years it was. Smoking is a hard habit to break....I put the sticks down back in 89.

t walgamuth · #15 03-09-2009, 07:05 PM

Thankfully I apparently did not inherit the alcoholism gene and never smoked cigarettes.

I did cigars for a few years when I was in my late twenties.