The Dude Abides

ok, so for those of you few who read my blog know that i usually write about funny stuff, but today i’ve got to get sentimental (sp.?). you see my uncle larry (my mom’s older brother) has been battling pancreatic cancer for the past 3 years or so. when he was first diagnosed with it the doctors told him that he would not live longer than a year, year and a half (i think this is right, but don’t quote me on it). and for those of you who do not know, pancreatic cancer is supposedly the most painful cancer you can go through. he has been through so many painful surgeries and had tubes put in so many different places of his body. he and his wife paula have tried many different procedures and methods to fight it off and in some ways have been successful. i mean, he has lived 2 years longer than the doctors predicted. well, my uncle told his wife and the doctors a couple days ago when he was taken to the hospital (for bleeding from the mouth and nose) that he did not want to have any more surgeries. he had basically decided it was his time. that he was putting his life in God’s hands. so he was put on a morphine drip. when it started the drip was at a level 3, and now it is at a 8. my uncle has been slipping in and out of a coma, and now (according to my mom) is in a coma where he will peacefully die.

now, i love my uncle very much. i always will. he always did whatever he could to make people happy. i remember when i was a little kid i would always love going out to visit uncle larry and aunt paula in huntington beach, california. i remember and loved it when he did magic tricks, but i would always try and figure out how the heck he did them. when i got a little older he would explain it to me, but made sure i wouldn’t tell the younger cousins of mine. i remember the trip to catalina island with him. i remember miniature golf. i remember having him drive beside me on an enormous hill in calfiornia so he could clock how fast i was going on my rollerblades. i’m pretty sure it was over 35 miles an hour. i remember the famous philly cheesesteaks that he introduced us to. i remember the fish tacos (that i never would have tried if it weren’t for him).

i remember the in-n-out burger. you see one of the times he got pretty sick, so shane, alli, my mom and I went out to visit him at UCLA med center. at this point uncle larry couldn’t eat any food. his stomach had basically stopped working and he could not hold any food down without throwing up. we were very sensitive talking about food, but he was always joking around about it. so he suggests us going to the in-n-out burger down the street. he tells me to order a double double animal style. i was like, “what the hell are you talking about?” he acts totally serious and tells me to do it. so we get to the in-n-out burger and the menu consists of about 4 items. i see a double double, but i see nothing about any animal style. i get up to the counter, and not wanting to look like a jackass, order a normal burger. it ended up being so-so. so we get back to the hospital and he asks me how it was. i tell him i was a chicken $hit and sissied out, because i didn’t believe him. he raves on and on about how he was serious and how i should have ordered it. so the next time i come out to visit larry and paula is on a road trip with farley. we were bringing my dad’s new car out to him in san francisco so we decided to stop in huntington beach for the night. this was when larry was doing a little better, but he still couldn’t eat anything. and although he couldn’t eat, he still treated us to a double double animal style (yes, animal style has some mustard in it. and yes i enjoyed it) in-n-out burger. it was pretty damn tasty if you ask me. so thanks for that, uncle larry.

i remember the pinball machines, the laser discs, the disney characters, the justified asset (the name of their boat), kite flying, getting tossed by ataboy on a biking/rollerblading excursion, pearcy, squash, racquetball, hotrods, mullets, etc. i have so many fond memories of my uncle. i guess i just wanted to write about him and how much i love him, and how much i will miss him when he passes.

My uncle passed away this morning at 5:30 L.A. time. He will be greatly missed.