It comes in threes

With the NCAA basketball tournament going on this could have easily been a post about sports. In actuality, it is about life and death as three important people in my life have passed away this year already. Some people say that deaths "come in threes" and I guess at this point I hope it is true.

My Uncle Francis died in January, just a few weeks shy of his 86th birthday. He was a man who never complained and never spoke bad about anybody. When his kids got in trouble he would simply ask them "What were you thinking?" and let them explain it. He was an excellent mechanic and helped my dad on many projects. He will be deeply missed as a card partner for my mom & other Uncle Bob. What a great guy - I sure will miss his laugh and quick wit!

Uncle Walter died at the age of 94 and was a WW2 vet and 20 year veteran of the armed forces. He earned many stripes, bars, ribbons and stars. I remember hearing how he was cooking and had a bullet ricochet off his pan! To his great sadness, his fiancee died of scarlet fever before he returned home from the war. I don't know if he ever really got over it and never married. My wife always commented he would have been a great dad! Just like Uncle Francis, I never heard the guy really complain other than when the Twins were losing. He was a gentle soul and lived in the same house he grew up in. His favorite quote was "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Couldn't agree more Uncle Walt!

On February 22nd my father in law Jim Ewers passed away after a brief two week stay in the hospital. He had a bad fall about a dozen years ago and it was tough for him to battle back. He fell from a stacker while taking a shed down and shattered his ankle and compressed his back real bad. He had trouble getting along after that but my wonderful mother in law Jean did a great job taking care of him. Thanks to him I learned to love and respect farming. He was also responsible for getting me interested in College Football, which is my favorite sport by far! Jim even got to see the Gophers in the Rose Bowl in 1960. When you realize he drove over 200 miles every Saturday to see the Gophers play (he had season tickets) you can understand what kind of a hard core fan he was. He pretty much was for anything to do with the U of M. Don't be surprised if one of my kids go D-1 and play there! And of course he raised two great daughters who are second to NONE:)

This blog does have a happy ending though as my nephew John Patrick DeMatteis was born today! At just over 7 pounds he is doing great. Congrats to Lori and Monte and welcome to our family John!!!