I've been thinking alot about death lately. Not by choice. My Uncle Rulon passed away last Saturday. He was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer less than a year ago and went through surgery and treatments. Unfortunately, that didn't work. A month ago he was admitted into the hospital and had only been home just a few days befre he had to go back to the hospital. He finally joined his parents and his little girl last week. I felt like a buzzard for a few days last week - we were told he wouldn't make it through the night but he managed to hang on for a few days. I kept calling my parents to see if they had heard anything - hovering around waiting for him to pass away. He's finally at peace.

Uncle Ru is my dad's little brother - and boy were they two peas in a pod! Actually, there were 3 peas in a pod - Uncle Ken, my dad, and Uncle Ru. We loved it when all three were able to get together. Talk about having a good time! Unfortunately, Uncle Ru and his family lives in California and we sure didn't get to see him nearly enough. But it sure was fun to hear them tell their stories. What fun they had as kids. They had very little as far as material things go - but the fun they had! If only I could write all of the stories that was shared as we were in California this week. I do want to share a couple of them because they are priceless.

One day, the three boys and some nephews (who were the same age) and I'm sure some other boys decided to start collecting tumbleweeds. I don't know how long they spent collecting tumbleweeds, but they used a pitchfork to pile them as high as they could. After they had a good-size mountain of weeds together, they lit them on fire and danced around yelling "fire! fire! fire!" having a grand old time. Now, this took place ages ago (my dad is 71 and he had to be about 10). Someone heard "fire! fire! fire!" and called the fire department. It isn't like someone was at the station waiting for a call - the operator had to call the fire chief at home, who then drove to the fire department and got the fire truck, and then drove to the area where the call came from. He couldn't find a fire - tumbleweeds sure don't take long to burn! So, he went to a home and called the operator to find out where the fire was. When he was told he was in the area, he asked several little boys if they knew where a fire was. Of course they didn't know where the fire was! What fire? Don't know anything about it.

When my dad and Uncle Ru were older (they didn't share their ages), they convinced some girls that they could show them some arizona lights right there in St. George. The girls didn't believe them, but dad and uncle Ru assured them that they could show them some pretty lights. So, they had the girls sign something saying that they weren't being kidnapped (huh? serious?) and took them to a place known as Ferguson Avenue. They drove up and the headlights make thousands of broken bottles glisten and light up. The girls weren't impressed. I'd have smacked 'em!

My Uncle Ru was the nicest guy. He lived with my parents for a while when my brothers were little and took over the roll of babysitter. I can just image what a blast he would have been! My mom told us that you wouldn't have met a nicer man - he would have done anything for you. My dad says he was the best little brother - whenever my dad was telling one of his stories (and he tells many of them) my Uncle Ru would say "Yep, I was there. I remember that!" How could you not believe two guys?

Goodbye for now, Uncle Rulon! You will be missed.

Now, there are only 4 Nelson siblings left - and we can't end this blog without posting a picture them.


(back row left is Uncle Ken; my dad is on the right)
(front row left is Aunt Bernice and on the right is Aunt Valene)