Just today I received a Christmas card from my Aunt Charlotte & Uncle Jerry, and in the corner was written, "Uncle Don passed away on July 3rd." I am speechless. The last time I saw him was at my Grandma Jo's funeral, and I don't know how he died or how his children, my cousins, are doing. My mom's only sister, Aunt Carol, died right after my Grandma did in 2002.
The thing that I remember most about my mom's oldest brother was that he quite literally saved my life. Uncle Donny had come to visit us in the apartment complex we were living in Southern California when my little sister Darlin was born. She was a week or so old and my mom was busy taking care of her, so my older sister Marilee had taken the rest of us out to the pool to swim. I was sitting in the hot tub when all of a sudden my back had been entrapped by the strong suction of the drain of the hot tub. I don't remember being able to scream or anything before being pulled under, but I know that my eyes were open and I could see people walking by the side of the pool but they couldn't see me underneath the water. I don't know how Uncle Donny knew I was under the water, if he had seen me go under or if he just happened to walk by, but he jumped in with all of his clothes on and his nice watch, I remember (funny the details you remember of life changing events) and he used his feet against the side of the pool to free my little six year old body from the suction of the drain. When he carried me into our apartment I remember my mom crying and taking me in her arms and looking at my back where there was a huge purple bruise with drain marks imprinted like a waffle iron. She put me in the tub and I remember lying there thinking about what it had felt like to almost die. I was scared but at the same time peaceful because it was so quiet under the water. I know with out a doubt that if it hadn't been for Uncle Donny saving me that day, I would not be here. I have cried through the Kleenex box.
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| My mom and her siblings (l to r: Sandra, Carol, Don & Jerry) Grandma Jo's Funeral - May 2002 |
