I got a phone call early Tuesday morning at 2 a.m.  It was my mom and she was crying.

“Your uncle Mark passed away,” she said.

My uncle died Monday night, the youngest of five children.  He leaves behind three kids – ages 15, 16, and 17.

The resiliency of families during troubled times is amazing.  Minor — and even major disagreements — between family members are pushed aside if only temporarily.  The family forms a sort of cocoon around those family members hurting most.

I know my job during times like these and that’s to be here for my mom.  She’s the one the family turns to, the one everyone else leans on, so I have to make sure that weight’s not too great.

My mom is the one who had to tell Mark’s children that their father passed away.  My mom is the one who had to comfort my grandmother when she learned her youngest child died.

It’s an awful burden and a great responsibility at the same time to be the rock of the family.  I admire my mom, I miss Mark and I love my family.

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