See you later

We had the opportunity to go and visit Uncle Paul this past Saturday. Uncle Paul is my Mom's younger brother at 52 years old. He is the father of 5 kids, one boy and 4 girls. He is so fun and over the years we gave him the nickname of "Uncle Weird." He is married to my Aunt Sandra and they have the most beautiful marriage. They truly love and care for each other and are so dedicated to their family and serving others.

My Uncle Paul has terminal cancer. Last week they gave him the news that he has about 7-10 days left in this life. He has battled stomach cancer for the past year + and has shown such courage throughout his cancer journey. My heart just breaks for all of us to loose him but my heart is also at peace because I know that he's fought the good fight, kept the faith, and he will return to his Heavenly home having completed his mortal journey.

Uncle Paul is so sick. He is down to 136 lbs at 6'3'' and he jokingly called himself, "Skeletor." I love that he isn't afraid to put words to what is going on. I love that he uses humor to cope with all of this. I was so glad that during our visit he was able to talk with us candidly about how he's doing, his feelings for his family and even talk about his funeral. He's planning a party, there may even be karaoke :)

He became tearful as he shared with us his belief about life after this earthly experience and his joy in anticipating seeing his loved ones in a great reunion on the other side.We didn't talk of things that were of major significance, but we did. We talked about us and how we're doing, we talked about those who had gone on before us, we talked about Tracee's coming baby girl, we talked about my Mom's health and how she is doing, we talked about a movie we'd both recently seen, we talked about his visitors, we even talked about diet coke, too funny! We laughed and we cried and hugged we said of our love for each other. It was a great visit!

I asked him if there was anything he felt like we should know or do or take care of for him and he said he is very at peace right now. He made a point of tell us with was just a "See you later" visit. I felt the Spirit testifying to me that was true and that has helped me get through.

The Spirit is so strong in the Winchester home. I was so thankful to be comforted and to feel peace during our time with Uncle Paul and Aunt Sandra. She also shared with us her belief about life after this and she shared that she had to make the choice to believe and to feel grateful for the time she has had with him and be excited and look forward to the time she will yet have. My heart needed to hear those messages. I'm so grateful for her faith and example. 

I have so many memories with my Uncle Paul. He's been around my whole life. Every holiday, birthday, so many Sunday's and so many fun vacations and visits in between. I will miss him so much. I'm so proud of him. He's one of my hero's. I'm so thankful that we were able to visit and that he felt well enough to visit with us. I'm praying for all of us in the coming weeks that we'll be able to handle this experience of loosing him and that we'll have the strength to move forward.