Hey, y'all -
In the summer of 2019, my uncle Chris passed away.
I had loved him since the moment I met him.
Later in life, he met and married the love of his life, Danae, and I got a new aunt and two brand-new cousins and couldn't have been happier.
His battle with lung cancer was nothing short of heroic, and the care and love that Danae showed to him in their final days together was a testament to what love means. Anyone lucky enough to meet him knew that he was a model for how to embrace life, but I was surprised and constantly inspired by the way he approached death: hopeful, loving, open, and still so much damn fun. Instead of a wake after his passing, Chris wanted to throw one last party that he called "Last Call," so he'd still be around to enjoy it, too. He left this world before it could happen, so we all still owe him one.
I was honored to write his obituary, which included the following:
Chris was adored by everyone who had the privilege to know him. With an unparalleled enthusiasm for life, he never did anything halfway: he had a heart big enough for an extended family and an army of friends, and a laugh big enough to rattle the windows. If you were lucky enough to call him a friend, you didn’t question his loyalty, and you didn’t root for Auburn in his house.
He worked for the City of Montgomery for over 25 years, but his greatest role was as a loving husband and devoted father to his four children. He found his happily ever after with wife Danae, and they shared a love that would survive the two toughest struggles a couple can face: Cancer, and home remodeling.
Chris’s death leaves a void in the hearts of all who knew him, but his life serves as an inspiration to live every moment to its fullest. His family finds comfort in knowing that Chris has found his way to his heavenly home, where he waits to be joined by his loving wife… and Keith Richards.
I tell you all of that to tell you this: Danae is my damn hero for living through it, and as much as the rest of the world jokes that 2020 is the worst year of all time, I know her 2019 was worse.
I felt like Danae and her two kids Jacob and McKenna would enjoy a change of scenery this summer, so we had them out for an epic Montana vacation.
We did it all: We rafted the Clark Fork River and sailed on Salmon Lake. We went camping at Flathead Lake and watched the sun rise over the water. We hiked the mountains and saw waterfalls. We paddle boarded through fields of lily pads. We enjoyed every minute; Chris would have wanted us to.
Earlier in the summer, your idiot dog (Reminder: he's not mine) "learned" to swim when he fell off a downed tree in the middle of the lake and had to swim to shore. The problem after that was getting him to stop swimming. He was like Forrest Gump when the whole stadium crowd had to yell "STOP, FORREST."
I mean, sometimes he just gets a wild hair and forgets which way the shore is, and that dog is gone.
You even have to hold on to him in the boat so he won't jump out. I'm telling you: moron.
He has a lab's enthusiasm for swimming mixed with a husky's anxiety-riddled need to know where every member of his pack is, all the time. So when we're all on different paddle boards, he wears himself slap out swimming from one to the other to determine "Are you okay? You're okay? Great!" Then splash! back in the water to swim to the next person and almost knock them off their board in a never-ending status check. The drinks that dog has spilled, I tell you.
Your dad bought Archer a life jacket and that extra buoyancy really helped the dog irritate more people in less time.
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We were sad to see Danae and MacKenna and Jacob go, but we're so glad they got a chance to escape to Montana for a while. It's always the sign of a successful Montana vacation if they look like this on the first day, like "Gee, I don't know - this river's kinda cold..."
...and they look like this on the last day, with their butt floating down the river not really caring where it takes them.
We hope we get to do it all over again soon.
Love,
Mom
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