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My uncle Dennis passed away a week ago today. Like most of my relatives back in Mississippi, I hadn’t spoken to him in a few years. I wish I had seen him more recently. For several reasons, I didn’t make it back home for his funeral. It’s one of the bad things about being so far from family.

I remember Dennis living with us early on when I was living with my grandparents and other relatives. He made us kids laugh a lot. I remember one time he had accident with a saw and having to be rushed to the hospital.

Years later after he was married and had a son, I remember helping babysit his son when my uncle would leave him with my grandparents. My mom suggested the name they gave the son. I remember there being some problems in the marriage. I think that maybe he was drinking, but I’m not sure. Dennis turned things around though. He’d been a pastor for over 15 years I think when he died. He started his own church in Jackson.

Whenever I saw Dennis at family events after that, he still had his great sense of humor. He was always nice, even when he was trying to get me to go to church. He was always a big guy and in the end he died from a heart attack. He was 57.

RIP, Uncle Dennis.