oh, uncle al.

I've put this off for a few weeks mostly because I knew it would put me in a sad head space and yes, sometimes I like to avoid that. But on April 10, 2017, I lost one of the most important guys in my life unexpectedly. Unexpected death seems to be a running theme for my life. I could go pro now. After saying bye to my brother who was 26 years young, grief was a friend I was all too familiar with.

Micah's death was on April 5, 2014 so on April 5th this year, I never imagined just 5 short days later I would lose Micah's best friend, the guy that was like my dad, my mom's brother, my employee and to many others, Big Al.

I am not close to my biological father, no surprise. It's old news that I've talked about before and this post isn't about him. The good Lord blessed me with two guys that would play such a consistent role my life, you can literally see the finger prints of them on my personality. My Granddad was always my granddad and such a granddad. He adored me, I adored him, he let me get away with anything and in return, he had a little girl that thought he walked on water. Then there was Uncle Al, uncle al was more of a dad than anyone else in my life. He loved me and called me out on my crap in the same breath. I loved it. We cared about each other in a way that meant we would always be honest with each other no matter the topic. Him and his wife, my Aunt Becky were just an extra set of parents God blessed me with. It was such an accurate statement that me and him lived by the saying, we can't help the Lord gave me to the wrong parents.

When Aunt Becky died in 2011, my relationship with Uncle Al grew even more [I didn't even realize it was possible] to the point that he has been working for me for a year as our front desk guy. He was so friendly, sometimes too social, my errand runner, lunch getter and security guard. He was a constant comedic in the office with mom and I and if there was ever something we would rather not do, he was game for it. He loved people and people loved him back.

I am so thankful that God gave me two fatherly examples in my life and I am so very sad that Uncle Al will not get to meet Roman here on this earth. He had just come to our gender reveal party on 4/1 and was so excited that I was having a boy. I let myself miss him, it's too hard not to. I am so thankful I have so many memories with him, losing Micah as young as we did, I have learned to be thankful for someone that lives over 40 because that's almost double the amount of time I had my brother.

He was my bud, a father figure, my biggest aggravator, one of my biggest fans and my uncle al.


ps. he loved my blog and I know he would be mad it took me this long to write a post about him.

 [baby linds and uncle al]

 [us at work for halloween 2016]

 [mom and I with my extra parents]

 [the scariest face swap of all time hah]

[speaking of Granddaddy Bill, that's him, Grandmother, Mom, Uncle Al and me this past thanksgiving] 

 [heaven just got a little more fun with these two together again, that's a reunion I wish I could've seen]

 [I am so thankful for how close Tripp and Uncle al were]

[at my wedding probably aggravating me about something] 

Heaven seems sweeter every time I think of my loves that already up there. 😍