Farewell Dear Uncle

If my readers will indulge me this once for a personal entry, because of the deep meaning and its connection to my work life…

George Ellis Cook

Thoughts for a Funeral Speech

Intro: I recently attended the funeral for my Uncle in Houston, Texas. When they opened the floor for stories to share, i was too numb to speak. This is what i thought about later that night, what i wish i could have shared…

George Ellis Cook is my Uncle. I use the present tense with great purpose and meaning. He is my uncle.

Fill in that sentence for yourself. George Cook is my ________. Say it to yourself. George Cook is my ________.

C.S. Lewis once said that we don't have souls. We ARE souls. We have a body. Do we not see that before us here today? Our beloved friend, our precious relative, still lives. His true self, his spirit that has so warmed our hearts all these years, that has made us laugh, that made eyes gleam, still lives and we still see him with our mind's eye.

For me, Uncle Ellis was many things, played many roles. Not just a great uncle, but a mentor, a role model of a corporate executive. In a world, at a level, that seems overfilled with jerks, backstabbers, selfish schemers, he was one of the good guys, and gave me hope that i didn't have to fundamentally change to stick around.

A writer. A fan of Stephen King novels, of Lonesome Dove, vaulting me into an adulthood filled with good reads.

An inventor and dreamer. Someone who gave his ideas a shot. To succeed or fail.

An appreciator of family history, of heritage, of genealogy.

There were even younger-day moments, alone in front of a mirror, where i said to myself, "you look a bit like your Uncle Ellis."

But that was about his earthly body and so violates what i said earlier. So today, tomorrow and so on, let us all look in the mirror and seek those sparks of recognition of kinship, with George Ellis Cook, the spirit, the soul that has touched our hearts. There, in our hearts, we still walk together. We still share a hearty laugh.