Lineage

My Dad & Uncle

It’s sunny and windy outside, but not quite as cold as I was promised. Yesterday I watched some football and a little SEC Basketball. By the time I went to bed I was pretty tried but I woke up abruptly around two, but after some adjustments I quickly went back to sleep. Deep in my dreams I dreamed about seeing one of my nearby aunts, one of the few I have left. She was close to my mom’s age, and I remember how well they got along even as in-laws. My uncle and my dad were pretty close so during some long weekends and summers our two families would hang out together let families did back in the day.

My uncle always had the cool car, while my dad, the older brother, was way more practical. He and my aunt were younger, and our two cousins were my little sisters age. Like I said, my mom and aunt shared a bit of a bond both being young brides, and us kids got along sharing similar backgrounds and blood. But this dream wasn’t about “the good old days”; because my Dad, my Mom, and my Uncle have long passed. All that remains is my still beautiful aunt, who in her mid-70’s now has a debilitating disease that robs its victims of their memories and their life.
 
My family was spared the misery of watching our parents lose themselves before our eyes. Their lives were  swiftly cut short by heart disease at an age younger than me or my baby sister are now. But in the dream I was given a small taste of the pain my cousins and aunt suffers on her worse days. But as life and time fades for us all, I can’t help but think of the blood that flows between us. From two different but similar brothers and the lineage of our shared grandparents.