My Aunt Doris from Calgary usually calls me on my birthday in April so I was somewhat surprised to hear her voice yesterday morning when I answered an early morning call. She called to give me some sad news. Her husband, my Uncle Eric Friesen, passed away on Friday evening. He had Alzheimer's Disease but that was only a contributing factor. He had contracted pneumonia a few times in the last year and when it hit him again this fall, he could not battle it and it took his life.
Uncle Eric was my dad's younger brother in a family of eight children. He is the first of the Friesen siblings to pass away. The long standing topic of conversation in that family has been the longevity with which they are all blessed. My grandfather and his father lived to just under 100 years of age. The oldest sibling is now 95 and doing well. Uncle Eric did not choose to be the first. None of us chooses the time of our death and yet we think it fair that there is a chronological order that should be followed.
I have fond memories of my Uncle even though I would say that I did not know him well. I do know that what would have followed in the years to come, with his Alzheimer's disease, was not nearly as desirable as what happened on Friday night when he reached the end of his life's path.
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