My Uncle

I don't think that he realizes the impact that he makes on the people he meets in a day ...

He looks you in the eye when you speak. He responds to your emotions when he writes. He encourages and supports. He treats everything that lives with kindness and respect.

I have never heard him say an unkind word about another person. He may acknowledge 'the way things were' and speak of them ... but it is done with such kindness and tact, that his words would not harm those of whom he speaks.

He has a wealth of knowledge. He is educated and was an educator for most of his career ... yet when he speaks to you, you feel as though you are his equal (or better).

He downplays all that he has accomplished with his life. I feel that I only know one small piece of him. If he makes me feel the way that I do each and every time we touch base ... I must multiply that by the thousands of other lives that he has touched to even come close to knowing the difference he has made in this world.

He is my dad's brother. My uncle. He fulfills the part of me that longs to hear what Dad may have thought at pivotal times in my life.

He is one of my greatest gifts. He believes that I am better than I am ... so that is who I strive to be.

"Thank you, Harold! You mean the world to me."