Shit, this is probably too much to post but idk what else to do so have the thoughts.
My uncle died last month, and his memorial was today. He was my dad's best friend, not related to me by blood or marriage but he's been around enough that he's my uncle.
My dad got up to talk at the memorial before we all got up and talked to people. He mentioned some of my uncle's favorite phrases, and I could hear him saying them, I could hear my uncle's voice saying "one more thing" and "to be honest" I could hear it. I still hear it when I type it out. When I think about the phrases I hear him, I doubt that's going away soon.
My dad mentioned stuff that I loved to hear the stories of when I was younger. I knew my dad got a peice of a kind of axe lodged in his thigh, and my uncle took him to the hospital. He stayed with my das while they tried to find the peice of the axe. He mentioned how my dad's leg looked like a steak while it was peeled back as they searched for the second time.
Speaking of steak, he loved his steak blue. Blue is touch it on the grill on both sides and toss it on the plate. He loved that, which I got told constantly as a side comment. Just random thoughts that my dad or step-mom thought in passing while we had steak.
He was 6 years older than my dad, my dad knew him for 40+ years. He came over often and had dinner with us, and he'd call my dad and chat constantly. When his niece and nephew graduated, he'd tell my dad about it, he was so excited about them. He watched his dad and mom die, and he died alone. I wish someone was there for him so he hadn't died alone.
I thought I'd processed his passing, but I don’t think I have. Hell, I may learn bary saxophone just to honor his memory. That was his instrument in marching band in college. He also collected music and dvds, which I started doing before his passing, not realizing he did that too. My music taste is a tad different, but I'm always a sucker for classic rock and metal music.
I'll miss him. He's never going to sit across from me and tell me stories of when he was in band in college, what he stole (the band was well known at that time to be full of kleptomaniacs), what other people stole, when they got caught, etc.
He managed bands too, often asking my dad to bail the drummer out of jail. Never got to meet any of the bands he managed, his mom started deteriorating when I was younger and he stayed after his dad died to help take care of his mom.
I'm not sure what else to say, I've been typing for 20+ minutes about him. I'll miss him a lot.