Uncle Time...

There are always moments in my life where I am reminded that no matter how much planning I do, I simply cannot account for everything or everyone around me... Today was one of those days. I completely and entirely forgot that my uncle and cousin live in San Jose.. (whoops!) Thankfully my uncle saw on Facebook (woot!) that I was in town, and he was able to, and gracious enough to clear his schedule to spend some time with me. Unfortunately my cousin was not able to change her schedule, which really is my fault for forgetting she lives here. Either way, I am so blessed to have family spread out across the entire country (literally) who love me and make time for me whenever they can.

The cool thing about the time I had with my uncle is that it was the first time we have really gotten to talk for any great amount of time with me as an adult. Last time I saw him I am fairly certain I was still in college, and it was at a family get together (which means dozens of people around), and beyond a few basic pleasantries I do not have any recollection of having a genuine conversation with him... ever. So, heading into the evening I was excited to get to know him for myself, not through stories from the rest of the family.

He picked me up in a '72 Jaguar, which is an awesome car, and one I have never had the chance to ride in before, so that alone was pretty neat. We ended up heading to Santa Cruz to walk on the pier, chatting the entire time about random things. He told me about various places he used to live, showed and explained things, such as the fact that in California you have to pay for the rights to use water on your own land! We talked about jobs, places we have traveled, and random funny stories that came to mind as we chatted.

The pier was awesome even after dark, and I swear there is just something about the smell of salt water that touches my soul and puts it at rest.

We walked and talked about God, our views on loving and judging others, we got ice cream and talked about how fascinating people are to us and how people deal with death differently and how they view it (he is a funeral director).

A couple hours later as we drove back I told him about my blog, and different stories related to the people who read my blog (and basically how crazy their stories are and how awesome God is at using my thoughts to reach others).

I had no idea what to expect from an evening with my uncle, but regardless, it was awesome, we had so much fun, and I felt entirely and completely blessed to have him go so much out of his way to spend time getting to know me. My family near and far are all such blessings in my life, and I do not deserve it. Love them so much!