Farewell Uncle Gary- you are sorely missed....

This past May we lost our sweet Uncle Gary (forgive me for taking so long to post this, I wanted to wait for a few good pics of Uncle Gary before I did it). Just before he passed, we were lucky enough to get to see him when he and Aunt Janet came out to CA for an early visit (they always come at Christmas time but this year they decided to schedule an extra visit). The visit was wonderful and special- Landon got a chance to get to know Uncle Gary, play with Uncle Gary, and give Uncle Gary some good laughs. Uncle Gary paid us the highest compliment and said he was proud of us as parents and that we were/are raising a very happy boy. Uncle Gary was one of the most positive, pleasant personalities we knew- he always showered us with compliments. It's especially hard for me to say goodbye to Uncle Gary because he was so close to my mom and he always had a way of bringing me comfort in her absence. He helped give me strength in my mother's final days when I didn't think I could hold it together anymore- something I wish I would have thanked him for and something I will forever be grateful for. He often made me teary with his sweet references and memories of Layne...not to mention the fact that the two of them looked so much alike!

Aunt Janet, Aunt Maryann and Aunt Wendy put on a wonderful celebration in honor of Uncle Gary's life this past month. We toasted Uncle Gary while sharing sweet and funny stories from his life. It was bitter sweet of course- but we know he was there in spirit. I got to spend some time talking to John which was a treat since he and Abbie live in Colorado and it's very rare that we see each other. They are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their little boy, Finnegan Gareth Wells (as are all of us). Hang in there Abbie- you're almost there :O).

Cheers to Uncle Gary, we love and miss you....