After a wonderful time on the farm, I packed up the rental car booked it to Dallas during the week’s only 6-hour stint of good weather. A whole gaggle of us were converging in Carrollton to visit my Uncle Dick (well, great great uncle) and Aunt Bev and there was another massive ice storm on its way.

It was so good to see his smiling face, with cat Pepper.

The weather kept us from all really getting together for the first two days, but I enjoyed getting iced in with these two and Bev.

We did puzzles, looked through old recipes, told stories and jokes, and ate like king and queens.

Then, on my last night, the ice had thawed just enough for everyone to get together for dinner and cake. We sat around the table and listened to Dick and Memaw sing songs from their childhood and saw just how well Dick could make a rhyme out of anything.

God, I love this photo. Two of the best people ever.

I kissed him twice that night and told him I loved him very much. He told me he loved me and really loved Joe. (He always did love him best.)

There was so much love and laughter around that table. In my heart I didn’t want it to end, but I knew it was probably my last hoorah with Dick.

And it was.

Dick passed away tonight, just eleven days after our  weekend together. Eleven days. It’s a blink of the eye and I’m in shock that it happened so fast. I’ll need some time to collect my thoughts on the man I called my “Hot Uncle Dickie,” for there are many and they are wonderful.

Tonight my heart is heavy with grief, my world a little dimmer, but at the same time I’m so overwhelmingly grateful for those three days and the lifetime of memories he leaves behind.

We love you, Dick.