Uncle David passed away on April 3 after a long battle with cancer. He was only 69.
I met him more than 30 years ago when my then-boyfriend and I dropped in to visit. We accepted their invitation to stay for dinner. At the time he and Sherri, whom he called Sherri-belle, had three little girls whose first names all began with the letter J. I think Sherri was very pregnant that night. Eventually they would have three more J’s, a boy and two girls.
At dinner that night the youngest one at the table was perhaps two or three. With an impish grin, David asked her to tell me her full name. When she said something in her sweet, little girl voice that sounded like, “Jamie-Lee anus,” my boyfriend snorted. Feeling very insecure as “the girlfriend,” and not knowing David’s sense of humour yet, I wasn’t sure how to react. My confusion was probably the satisfying reaction he hoped for, because he looked right at me, grinning, and said, “That’s right, your name is Jamie-Lee Eidsness.”
One thing was clear immediately: he adored his wife and family. I grew to love and even anticipate his quirky sense of humour. He was a sweet, gentle man, more of a big brother than an uncle to my boyfriend/husband, and I will miss him. The world will miss him.