Good things Sun 7 Feb 10

GOOD THINGS: In celebration of my uncle Kenny
During the weekend I got a message from my mother that really confused me … which, if you knew my mother, wouldn’t sound strange at all, and it took me a while to understand what she was trying to tell me. Unfortunately it wasn't good news ... my uncle Kenny (my mother's brother) had passed.

I hope it doesn’t sound strange marking this as a good thing … because in and of itself it most definitely is not.

But I wanted to think about what I understood about my uncle from the limited time I’ve spent with him … and to celebrate a man who was so obviously loved by his family.

It’s no secret my parents emigrated to Australia in the early 1960s with my sister Carol and I. We lived in Australia, isolated from an extremely large family in England and Canada, except for one of my mother’s brothers (Stanley) and his family in Sydney.

So my only interactions with my uncle Kenny are limited to the mid 1980s (which I’ve completely forgotten), and more recently in September 2009 when we spent a week visiting family in England.

I’m so glad we made the time to spend a day with uncle Kenny and his family.


Five of us after lunch ... my uncle Eddy, me, Clarissa, Ros and my uncle Kenny.

I remember that day so well, and how kind he was taking us to visit another my mother’s brothers uncle Eddy near Milton Keynes, a tour of the countryside to see where my mother lived near Yelvertoft as a kid, and a glorious walk through Braunston and the canal. That walk, and my uncle’s commentary of things and places my mum would have seen or done helped me understand my mother’s life so much better.

It was also clear how important my uncle was to his family. He was the centre of my auntie Ros’ life. My aunty Ros’ nephew (who visited that day) clearly respected my uncle, and my uncle obviously doted on the grandchildren in his life ... and they obviously loved him in return.

From that day alone, I could see how he would have treated my brother and sister (who visited during the 1970s) and why they have such wonderful memories of uncle Kenny.


Uncle Kenny and his grandson.

I can only guess how much he’ll be missed … and all I can do is send my love to everybody whose life he touched.

But it’s just never enough, is it?