Special People Part 1

My uncle recently passed away at 62 years of age. His funeral was one of the most precious ceremonies I've ever been too. The stories and anecdotes were full of laughter. He was quite a character. He had Down Syndrome. Growing up we knew he was different than us but he was just "Paul". I never really thought about others not seeing him the way we did, except one time at school. My Granny worked in the lunch room and he would sometimes help her. I realized then that other kids were laughing and making fun of him. It really hurt me but I didn't know what to do about it then.

We, on the other hand, laughed and had fun with him. My brothers probably have many more stories to tell for they were closer to his age, but I remember being called "biby" until I had my own "biby" then I became "Momma". His favorite person in the whole world was Elvis Presley whom he called "Kim Bowie". He loved singing and foot racing and laughing and telling jokes. He was quite a character that's for sure. He couldn't talk as well as you and me, but you could tell if he was happy or sad, or mad. He was always very animated. It's also funny how there were always a few choice words in his vocabulary that were crystal clear! ;)

We will miss him. He was special indeed.