... my dear uncle, vernon jackson, died last week ... his was a long and wonderful time, one in which he worked to make the world a better place for all of us, so the sorrow i feel is more than balanced by the great joy which forever will be mine for having had him in my life ...
... of all the photographs i have of my uncle vernon, this is my favorite ... next to the front porch he was watering francine's flowers ... i was trying to take his picture, not always an easy thing to do with jackson men (and, yes, as you've seen over the years my brother, michael, is most clearly one of 'em) ... [click] ... my uncle continued to spray the plants ... [click] ... he turned and looked at me ... even as i began to press the shutter button i noticed that from what normally was a very carefully controlled and contained countenance a rather odd smile was emerging ... [click] ... in the next second he pointed the water nozzle at me, calculated exactly where to aim so as to not wet my camera, and proceeded to seriously soak me from my chest to my feet ...
... i was suprised ... i was stunned ... my uncle—he who had more than once shared high tea with her majesty, the queen of england, he who with great humility would inscribe after his signature the initials "o.b.e." ("order of the british empire," which unless you are a brit, you'll probably not know is a really, really, really big deal)—my uncle had squirted me with the water hose ...
... then, in seemingly a fit of absolute mirth, he burst into a most perfectly pure laughter ...
... for me, just for me ...
... and, even as still chuckling he turned to resume his duty to the garden, in that moment i knew—as i know the sun, as i know the wind, as i know the waves that forever delineate the shore which defines that little island in the sea—i knew that this was of the very finest moments in my life ...
... i will miss my uncle ... i will miss his dry wit, his tremendous intellect and intelligence, his compassion, his quiet strength, his great reserve ...
... but, for all my time to be, i know i will never have to miss his laughter ...