Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Uncle Joe

If you'll forgive a somber post...

My Uncle Joe is dying.  He's been a very 'special' member of our family, in the very politically correct sense of the word, as he is Developmentally Disabled.

Here's a little tribute to good ol' Uncle Joel Burgess, 58.


Handsome fella.  Cerca 1976.  Age 23.




Floatin'.  Age 47.




These next two were taken the day Joe cleared the beach.  He was playing with my cousin Ryan and lost track of him.  So he told the lifeguard that Ryan was missing and all the kids had to get out of the water, sending everybody into a Ryan-finding frenzy.  Of course Ryan was safely nowhere near the water.  Check out Joe's muscles!






Uncle Joe loved to go fishing with his brothers.  My Uncle Danny used to get a lot of guff because he always brought way too much stuff on the boat.  When asked what he thought Danny could name his new boat, Joe suggested, "The Kitchen Sink".






A couple life lessons we can all learn from Uncle Joe:
  • Be happy.
  • Smile.
  • Never end a conversation without saying, "I Love You."
  • If you're waking up from a surgery in the recovery room at the hospital, a funny thing to say when the Doctor comes in is "What's Up Doc?"




See you in the funny papers, Joe.  

7 comments:

Anne said...

Aww, the soft side of the Lady. I'm sorry to hear about your Uncle Joe. Peace to you!

Anonymous said...

what a handsome guy!
he seems like a lot of fun.
sending thoughts your way

Anonymous said...

Joe is an amazing brother. He only sees the good in people. His personality is kind-hearted, loving, forgiving and incredibly funny. He is the nicest person I have ever had the priviledge to know in my life. My life is filled with so many wonderful memories of Joe. Cheryl

Kerry said...

Thank you for introducing me to your Uncle Joe. What a beautiful life.

Anonymous said...

Oh Kady, of the hundreds of times I have visited/stalked your site I have never left a comment but I wanted to let you know that your family is in my thoughts and I'm very sorry to hear about your uncle Joe..may you and yours treasure the millions of wonderful memories you have together with him.
Lori

Kelly said...

I hope Uncle Joe isn't a follower. Beautiful blog, but he may not like the first sentence.

But I guess we could blame it on you not always getting the facts straight.

"No No Uncle Joe, she just didn't get the fact's straight. You know Kady."

A Lady Reveals Nothing said...

Thanks everybody!

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