End of a Family Era

My Uncle Al passed away this week.  He was actually my Great-Uncle, the last of my Nona's many brothers.  We weren't what I'd call close, but we exchanged cards each Christmas, handshakes and hugs whenever we met (sadly, most recently, as other family members of that era passed away), and he was family.

Oddly, one of my clearest memories of Uncle Al was at a milestone birthday for my bisnonna (great-grandmother, the Marianna mentioned below), when I was fairly young. The brothers were all jokers to one degree or another, and it was Al who suggested I smell the lovely frosting rose on Bis Nona's birthday cake.  Hilarity (and a frosting facial) ensued.  

It's funny how little I knew about him, aside from his presence.  He was a lumberjack? He served on the USS Wayne (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Wayne_(APA-54) )? All things I didn't know, or, if I knew, never rose above the level of background noise I didn't really consider.  He was my Uncle Al — that was enough. 

It's very strange, even a little disconcerting, to think of that generation of immediate family now being gone. They were a constant part of the ambiance of my childhood, and now are just pictures, just memories.  

But good ones.