360 Recovery Project II

It's been over a year since my great uncle passed, and I often think of him. After he passed I started seeing red tailed hawks, or maybe a red tailed hawk all the time. It reminded me of him and seemed fitting since they are very loyal and protective. He would appreciate that. So here is a quick entry I wrote about him after the service. It's also kind of funny, because after reading it again I realized I made part of it about me.

Remembering Uncle Howard
from April 17, 2007

This morning was the memorial service for my great uncle. It was a very nice service at the local Presbyterian church with lots of friends and family showing up and sharing memories of Howard. I always felt a special connection to Howard. We seemed to have a lot in common, and I found out today we had even more in common than I knew. First of all the service itself was something that I could appreciate. His body wasn't there. It was donated to the local University for learning purposes. I can totally dig that. First of all I don't want to be laid out, so people can stand around and look at the husk that was me. That isn't me, I'm gone. Besides who wants to be remembered as the creepy lifeless corpse. Put up a picture of me with my sweet, sweet, mullet. Second, I don't want to be buried. Since I'm not going to be taking up any real estate don't waste the chemicals and fuss just box me up and send me on to the school to be poked and prodded.

Enough with being morbid. Why I actually started to write this was that I learned a few things about Howard that I didn't know. His children each gave very touching eulogies for Howard, and I thought I'd share a few bits of information that I found interesting.

• Howard was a lover of music. He loved classical, big band, and opera. His son told a funny story about how his wife Louise was not a lover of opera. She made a deal with him: I'll go do something on Saturday mornings and you can turn up the opera as loud as you want.
• Howard studied violin at the Cincinnati Conservatory before joining the Navy. I had no idea, and I think that is way cool.
• Howard was an agnostic. This blew me away. He was a fixture in the church. One story I heard today was that he was even asked to be a deacon in the church. His response was that because of his beliefs he might not be the right person for the position, so they asked him to be treasurer instead.

So it was with Howard. He put service before himself, served his country in the Navy and served the community through Rotary and the church, and despite being very active in the church he was never afraid to question the beliefs of those institutions. I only hope I can live to be half the man you were. We'll miss you Howard.