On Christmas day, this year, my uncle (second from the right), passed away at 3:45pm.  He was only in his 60’s.  My uncle was a professional musician.  He used to play Jazz in New Orleans.  He could pick up any instrument and play it beautifully... but his favorite was the clarinet.  It my eyes, my uncle became the clarinet, not just someone playing it.

When I was a little girl, my parents would bring my brother and I to listen to my uncle play in the French Quarter.  Uncle Hollis would play the second line song as we danced outside with the umbrellas.  When I started to learn how to play the piano, my uncle was always encouraging me and saying positive things.

I remember him being quick to offer a smile, being a compassionate person and someone who was happy to be amongst family.  He is the youngest of the eight siblings.  It hurts that he is no longer with us.  I miss him.  I can’t imagine what my Mom and her siblings are going through.  I love you, Uncle Hollis.

One of my friends sent me an email... 

“Sorry about your Uncle. In Judaism when someone dies on the New Year we say it means they are extra special. Since that is our holiest of holidays. Maybe this will be of some comfort?”

Yes, it did bring comfort, because I think my uncle is special.

Below is a poem that I wrote the day that he passed away...

Clarinet in heaven

You were the instrument

playing heart strings in the airy whisper

Your eternal song cries of beauty 

Sing the second line one last time 

Let us open umbrellas to dry the tears

and dance of happy memories

May your final notes ring harmony everlasting

  

a son, a father, a brother, an uncle, a friend 

You are loved

Below is a poem that my father wrote on the same day....

                A Gentle Soul

seems when one life has been lived

behind he leaves the sadness

of departing from it,for the living

to find a way of understanding

that in death, eternal life awaits

without the pain and suffering

living a life of blindness from birth

he walked among us for 63 moments in time

sharing his special gift, of his music

his first love, he held so dear

many can say, many things of him

but when all is said and done,

he was a loving and caring soul

now he is at peace , with his music

so dear, leaving with us a little

of it here, to enjoy when thoughts of him

come floating in , like a whisper of wind,

bringing his music to us to enjoy

Now my dear friend, I had the honor

of knowing you in life, Now I hold the honor

dear ,in remembering of the kind and gentle

soul you were, sharing of a special gift, a

gentle soul among us here...

a friend