In Memory of Uncle Bobby...

The news had come with a heaviness of heart. I knew him. I admired him. Though I had only met him a few times, I nonetheless grew to love him over the years through stories told from family. He had that effect; that special magic to connect with people and make them part of his world. It was natural, it was a gift.

His name was Robert Cunniff, but everyone called him Uncle Bobby. Uncle Bobby, one of God's angels here on Earth, passed away this week and his loss has left those that knew and loved him mourning a sadness that is inconsolable. He was loved; deeply and adoringly loved.

With developmental issues that paved his road early in life, Uncle Bobby was nonetheless the epitome of what constituted a well-lived life. He taught those around him each day what a meaningful life really was: waking up with a smile on your face regardless of your pain and problems because that simple act changed your disposition and uplifted the rest of your day; loving unconditionally without hate, criticism, anger or resentment because negative emotions made you ugly and never served a purpose; pursuing your passions to feed and nurture your soul - in his case it was music, painting and knitting; staying present in the moment and giving of yourself in whatever way you could to those you loved because that made them happy and if they were happy then so were you. He was, simply put, loving, kind, giving, understanding, patient and accepting. He was all of those things that we sometimes struggle with but came so easily to him all of the time.

I do not know many things, but I like to think that God sometimes sends his angels to Earth to live among us and show us the way. They come to guide us back to our true selves because we have strayed. Because all of us, while in this mortal life, experience pain and loss, and sometimes these experiences and losses leave us lost and hardens us in an effort to protect our hearts from further emotional anguish. Yet without an open heart, without a heart that allows the pain to absorb its lessons, we fail to grow. But angels, angels like beautiful Uncle Bobby, come into our lives to make sure this does not happen, that we remain with hearts open, and they teach us these lessons in a very simple way: they tap into our humanity. They remind us of the primary lessons we learnt growing up: to treat everyone with love, consideration, respect, empathy, understanding, patience and kindness. Lessons we oftentimes forget. Life throws a monkey wrench and we become lost failing to heed the lessons learnt in our past. Yet, when we meet a person who is physically- emotionally- or developmentally-challenged, when we meet the elderly, or someone struggling with a chronic or fatal disease, our selflessness, our humanity rises to the surface. When we encounter those that struggle day-to-day with things that come so easily to others, the divine is awakened and we act from a place of purity, a place where our egos and self-absorbed tendencies are completely stripped and we call upon the purity of heart that we possess. Simply put, we become better people because the Uncle Bobbies of the world open our hearts and show us the unconditional generosity of self that we are owners of and how beautiful and perfect it is; we tap into the human better part of ourselves and realize that this generosity of spirit that we so freely give to them we inhumanely keep from others for various reasons. And it is in this, in this, that we recognize how far we have strayed simply because our egos had held it captive. Love in its pure form was meant to be shared with all; it does not judge nor criticize nor hate. It simply loves unconditionally. And so God in his grace once in awhile sends us angels in human form to remind us once again that we have all been made in his image, but that we have strayed and we simply, lovingly, need reminding. And he sends us one of his perfect angels to shine a light on us and show us the way.

We mourn your loss Uncle Bobby. Your family cries a river of tears birthed of good memories and the loss of you. Know that the lessons of love, unity and humanity you have etched in the hearts of those you love, is the legacy by which they will live and honor you. You are gone from this world, but you will always remain alive in their memories. Rest in peace Uncle Bobby and say hi to Elvis for us and show him your hunka-hunka moves....

Party on, Uncle Bobby, always, lovingly, and forever party on......