My Uncle Earl passed away in early October after a quick but vicious battle with pancreatic cancer.  He was diagnosed in July and by October was home on hospice care.  The only good things about that were that he was perfectly healthy and happy up until his diagnosis and that his family could all be around him as he passed away with dignity at home.  We miss him and we think about Aunt Nita all the time.  But we are also very thankful for the 15 wonderful years they shared together after each had experienced unimaginable tragedies on their own.

Frank and I were both able to take off from work, so we traveled to Chicago to be with Aunt Nita for the viewing and the funeral.  We took advantage of our time in Chicago to also visit with all of our other family out there — family we hadn’t seen since our last Chicago trip two years ago.  It was a sad occasion to be in Chicago but I have to think that Earl would have been very happy to know that his passing had brought so many family members together.  We also took the train out there, which was an experience in itself.  I would definitely be up for taking the train again, even though it’s an 18 hour ride.  Having a sleeper car made all the difference in the world.

We have some photos with my mom’s side of the family here.  Below is a photo of us as we said goodbye to Aunt Nita.  She’s an amazingly strong woman but we’re sad that she has to use that strength yet again.