God be with you till we meet again... James D. Gettys

My uncle passed away last week from complications with stage 4 melanoma cancer. He had been fighting it for 4 years which is unheard of with his type of cancer. I take comfort in the fact that he lived those last 4 years to the fullest and seemed to be genuinely happy during that time. I know that I will see him again. I know that he is able to see my Grandpa again and I imagine that will be a joyful reunion.

Things that I learned about him and things I kind of already knew. I learned that he never swore. I learned to the degree of his competiveness. I have come up with a new term this weekend. The Gettys have some natural qualities born in them. The one main thing I think of is the Annual Easter Croquet match. It is always a race to see who will get the black mallet first. There is always rule changing during the match. Some one always tries to cheat. It is something I love to watch, it beats soccer any day.

Anyhow I thing the competiveness is born in the Gettys. My Uncle was a prime example, not only with croquet, but with other things as well. His friend Gail once said that there were no "sea gull" but that there were other kinds of gulls. My uncle took this challenge and did researched it extensively online. He did not find what he was looking for and ultimately ended up contacting the top university on bird research and as I recall talking with the head of the department to find out that his friend was right. You can add research and wanting to be right to the list.

He had his plan all mapped out figured out. He took onto family history after I got him started on it.

Anyhow it was a very sad week for the family to loose him here on earth, but in the long term of things earth is just one little stage of the big picture.