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Lessons from Uncle Bruce

Dear Editor:I feel as though I am broken. Perhaps I still cannot accept the fact that my uncle Bruce is gone. My mother was on the phone talking with someone who was male, and for a second I forgot that Bruce was gone, and I thought that she was talking to him. I know that he is gone, but it seems like he is still here. He may have had his problems, but who doesn’t? He was a great man who loved his son, daughters, horses, dogs and his sisters.The other day my mother told me a story about him, about her wedding: It had been raining the week before her wedding, even snowed the night before. The day of the wedding, Bruce came down from the wilderness after a few days of bow hunting. He looked for my mom and said “Don’t worry about the rain, it will be beautiful for your day, baby girl.” I know that my uncle loved my mother. When I was a little girl, he was my hero, my cowboy. He seemed to know all about horses and all the things I love. The country, hiking, fishing, skiing and camping. There are two things that I know were our connections: horses and Outward Bound. To be strong, to push yourself, to never give up no matter how bad the fall. Although I didn’t get the chance to spend time with him riding horses, camping or talking about Outward Bound when I became a teenager, I cherish the time I did get to spend with him. I cherish the fact that the last time I talked to him I got to tell him that I love him, and after I got off the phone with him, he called me back to tell me how much he loved me and how much it meant to him that I expressed my love. I will never forget that.I will never forget him, and I will never forget what he taught me: Pain is temporary, pride is forever. When you fall, get back up, dust yourself off and get back on that horse. Most important: to serve, to strive and not to yield.Cecelia-Ivana Prior SinclairBasalt