'Tis you, 'tis you must go........

Patrick and Lois Carr--March 2006--still smiling after 6 years of marriage
(my uncle was a confirmed bachelor for most of his life.....
he married Lois when he was 78...I'll tell you that story some other time)

But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow......
Oh, my Uncle Patsy, I love you so.

My beloved Uncle Patsy was called home last night at 10:06 pm. His smiling Irish eyes closed one last time before making his way to join all of those who waited for him beyond his earthly home. And, as he drew his last breath, a chapter of my life closed. A beautiful, adventure-filled 50 years and 351 days of being the beloved and adored niece of Patrick J. Carr. My reign as that special, can-do-nothing-wrong, God-damn beautiful and smart girl is over. And, I am sad. So sad that all I could think to do when I came home was to cook all night long. Chop and chop and stir and stir. Uncle Pat would say it was the Italian coming out in me....not the Irish. Because the Irish in me would have had me drinking all night long. But, I have to be clear headed today to deliver the news to my father--that his beloved little brother is gone. Wine and gin wouldn't help with that. And so, I just chopped and stirred and chopped and stirred some more---looking for the right words to tell him that his Padriac is gone.
I still haven't found those words but I can definitely feed him.

Uncle Patsy's story may be over but every moment of it will live on in my heart forever. The smiles those memories bring each day are the gifts that he has left me with.

......the pipes, the pipes are calling
from glen to glen,
and down the mountain side

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam