It was Tuesday morning, October 16, when we received the call. Gene's wonderful Uncle Nello had died an hour ago . He was a great guy, nearly 99 years old, and had been planning a trip to France to celebrate his 100th birthday. Sadly, he didn't make it.
He had not been well, suffering from a variety of health issues, including heart problems and blindness. But that had not stopped him from planning ahead, and from fighting the system. He and Gene talked on the phone nearly daily, Nello discussing things that were wrong with the health care provider system and what he was doing about it, as well as giving Gene instructions about things he wanted him to handle for him. Although he complained a lot that at his age, all of his friends had died, he will be sorely missed by many.
The call came exactly one week before our planned move into our new condo. By the next morning when we boarded the plane for our non-stop flight to Miami, we had put the moving company and various others on notice that the move would be delayed for a month.
I am pretty sure that Uncle Nello would have enjoyed the fact that even in death, he had brought us some pleasurable moments.  We got to meet several of his friends, people who had known him their entire lives. We heard some wonderful stories about things he had said and done during his long and eventful life. We enjoyed each other's company over lunch after the memorial service - and wondered why we had never met before, when we could have enjoyed spending time together, along with Uncle Nello. We should, I think, share our friends with each other, during our lifetimes, not after the memorial.