My trip to KC - My last visit with Great Uncle Charles

The trip was a good one.  Mom and I left a bit later than we wanted on Friday, but made good time with little traffic on I-70.  Swung by Oklahoma Joe's BBQ to grab dinner to take to my grandparents' place, and rolled in just under 5 hours (and had dinner ready!).  Not bad, not bad at all.

My uncle Charlie was there already, he flew in on Thursday.  All of us visited throughout the night, and it was a good little visit.  Saturday at 1p was our time to go see Great Uncle Charles.  It was ... what I expected I guess?  I suppose I didn't really know what to expect.  He was tired a lot, and his energy ebbed and flowed.  When he was awake, Mom and Charlie talked with him and he was happy they were there.  The two times I went in to see him was always at a point he was getting tired, so I just stayed in his room for a bit, watched him, and thought a few words that he have a peaceful end.  Mom tried to get him to realize I was there, but he was tired and groggy and I just told her it was fine, not to bother him, that it was enough that I was there.

Outside of seeing him, I had a nice visit with Great Aunt Margaret Ann.  She's trying so hard to accept this, to let him go.  She said so to me at one point when it was just she and I in the living room.  She said he needs to know that she'll be at peace when he goes, that he's at peace with it but will only truly be at peace when she's let go as well.  But it's hard.  Obviously, it's so hard. And she's trying, praying a lot, and spending time with him though it's hard on her.  And having the family around helps, and she's so great full that so many family were coming to visit.  She said it means a lot to her, and means so much to Uncle Charles.  I'm glad it helps, I'm glad they appreciate it.  I don't know what to think really, how it feels to have so many people coming to be with you because you're going to die.  But they appreciate it, they need it and want it and I'm happy I was there.

I also got to spend time with Lisa, a second cousin (I think) whom I last saw probably 20 years ago.  We talked about the genealogy she's done of the Basgall side of the family, my Uncle Charles and Grandma's side of the family.  She's traced it back to the 1760s, and I can't wait to see it.  She has a large printout of it, but even plotted out on a large sheet, it was still near impossible to read without a magnifying glass.  She's going to send me the file and I'm going to try and find a way to logically break it up and plot out so it's readable.  She's also going to send me pictures she's scanned and took over the years (she's visited western Kansas a couple of times to visit old cemeteries and talk with distant family members and purchase some old parish records).  I told her I was going to scan grandma's pictures, and would share them with her, and we're going to work to put a book or family history together (beyond the family tree).  I plan to do some research on oral/family history questions and record my grandparents over Xmas.

Saturday night several family members converged on Grandma's place and we ate and visited for several hours.  It was nice to catch up with my aunts and uncles, and visit with a second cousin I'd never met and play with his kids (I was missing my kiddo something fierce that night, it'd been a long day).

Sunday was out to breakfast with the grandparents and aunts and uncles again, then we hit the road.  It was a nice and easy, albeit windy drive home. 

And just like that it's back to the grind, and the weekend is a memory.  I need to do more thinking about it, I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about my visit with Great Uncle Charles, especially when I realize that it is likely the last time I'll ever see him.  That makes me sad, and I'm trying to grasp the impermanence of life, but it's hard.  This is the first family member I really remember dying.  I know it was wonderful seeing all of the family, and that put something of a happy spin on the weekend, but when I really think about it, my brief moments with Great Uncle Charles really stick in my mind.  *sigh*