Merriam Webster defines an uncle as: the brother of one’s father or mother, or the husband of one’s aunt or uncle.

When I thought about writing about my uncles, I didn’t realize it would be kind of a sad thing. I first thought about who my uncles are:

I had one maternal uncle.

I had 6 paternal uncles.

My Mama only had one sister, that means one uncle. I didn’t really know him very well. They lived a distance away and when we saw the family I was busy playing and having fun with my cousins.

My Daddy had two brothers and 5 sisters. In his family there were 6 uncles. Some of them lived far away in other states, from us. I only saw them a few times in my life and the others I never even met them. All of my uncles have passed on now.

Merriam Webster also says that an uncle is: one who helps, advises, or encourages.

I will say I really never had an experience like that with my uncles.

Maybe that’s why I feel like having family close is so important. I have 5 siblings, my sweetie has 6 siblings. That means there are many aunts and uncles and they all live (at least part time) within a few hours of us. My children have grown up knowing their uncles and aunts and having a relationship with them. I love that.

Family is so important to me. Building relationships and memories together is the glue that keeps a family happy and loving each other. It takes work. We used to see the family I grew up in often. We saw my darlin’s family often, now it’s a little less often. We all have our own families, grandkids and that is where the focus is.

As I’ve gotten older the effort of planning, and arranging get togethers is harder and more exhausting. It’s still worth it though. I know my kids love their uncles and have great relationships with them. I am so happy about that!

The last definition Merriam Webster gives for uncle is: used as a cry of surrender. I laughed out loud when I saw that. I guess that is where I’ll end this post. Life is tough. It is an ongoing effort to do your best to see everyone as often as you can, even uncles. When you want things a certain way or different than it is. I always thought I’d see all the family more, but I don’t always get to choose how things go. Everyones get to choose for themselves how much time they have for family. So with that, I’ll just say “uncle!” and surrender to what is. Uncles are wonderful and I’m glad they’re part of life.