| | My mother just called to tell me that my uncle died. I have a lot of uncles, but this one was Ted. Ted was my maternal grandfather's son from his first marriage, so I guess technically he was my step uncle, but my family doesn't think like that (his ex-wife is my Tia Anna, my other uncle's long time now ex-girlfriend is still my Aunt Karen.* We extend family titles really easily, and they're for life). After he divorced my Tía Anna, he bummed around my grand parents house for a while, then took off for the East when I was no more than ten (first the Philippines, then to Thailand). After which I didn't hear from him for perhaps five years. And I was okay with that, because honestly, I was pissed at him for leaving me and never writing me back. He started coming back about once or twice a year, and taking my grandfather to Asia to see him (my grandfather and he went to see the Great Wall in China right before SARS). I didn't want to like him, I didn't go out of my way to avoid him, but I never made a point to see him. It wasn't until maybe two years ago that I really saw him as a person. And, wow, he was a -cool- person (see my entry christmas 2007). Sophisticated, an amazing salesman, and really really funny. Also, he may have been a shady business man: he had offshore accounts, he worked for a global company (he was the only man in his company selling Industrial grade pumps in all of ASIA), he paid no taxes. He had all the charm and allure of a Bond villain, honestly. He was a member of my family I would genuinely want to hang around, in my free time, for serious.
He was also, business dealings aside, a decent guy who did a lot for the family. My grandfather is the tiniest bit sexist, and loved Ted very very deeply, and let Ted do whatever he wanted. Ted used this to help my grandparents out. He paid off their house, bought them a car, paid for my grandfather to travel out to see him (and go places my grandfather would never have gone otherwise). And my grandfather let him (which is a BIG deal. He didn't let anyone do stuff for them). And since Ted could do this, my mother could help too (buy my grandmother a new oven, for example) because of "fairness." He was a good man, full of life. It's very sad to think that his is over now.
He loved to deep sea dive, and I think he had an aneurysm on his trip. He leaves behind his second wife Ann, and the rest of us.
*thinking on it, it's weird that he was never Tio Ted, but she was Tía. I actually don't have any "tios," the other male relative that we speak to on that side is my godfather so he was always Nino (for "Padrino")
posted by Amber at 6:35 PM
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