My Uncle Bill

 

I have not been posting to my blog because of the death of my Uncle Bill.   Without a doubt, he was one of the most influential people in my life.  He was the second member of my family to hold me after I was born and he was always there when I needed something—whether it was a voice of encouragement or a kick in the butt.

Uncle Bill was a member of the America’s greatest generation.  A generation that grew-up seeing long soup lines; a generation that went into a war that saw 60 million people killed (20 million military and 40 million civilians); and a generation that built America into the world’s greatest super-power—militarily, economically and morally.

This generation did not judge themselves on how fat their wallets were, what titles they held, or the number of tweeter followers or Facebook friends that had.  They judged themselves based upon their service to country, community and family and their devotion to their religion.  If you try to judge Uncle Bill by today’s criteria, he was a total, abject failure, but if you judge him by his generation’s values, he was one of the most successful men I have ever know.

I will miss Uncle Bill a great deal, but in his absence, I promise to do a much better job of showing his generation the respect that they truly deserve.

Enjoy.