Tribute - To The Memory Of....My Uncle....Aaron Lowery Poem by James B. Earley

“A ship sails and I stand watching till she fades on the horizon and someone at my side says,

'She is gone! '

Gone where? Gone from my sight, that is all. She is just as large now as when I last saw her. Her diminished size and total loss from my sight is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment when someone at my side says, 'She is gone, ' there are others who are watching her coming over their horizon and other voices take up a glad shout,

'There she comes! '

That is what dying is; An horizon and just the limit of our sight.

Lift us up, Oh Lord, that we may see further.”
~ BISHOP CHARLES HENRY BRENT

“Yesterday, on Father’s Day, I called my Uncle Aaron, three times, twice in the morning and once in the afternoon, hoping to wish him Father’s Day greetings. All my calls went unanswered. I wasn’t overly concerned, since the moment was indeed Father’s Day, and maybe a little celebration was on the day’s agenda. This morning I was advised to listen to our home telephone messages of yesterday; one each from my uncle’s daughter, and my sister, both wishing me a Happy Father’s Day, and both requesting that I call as soon as I received their messages. And there was another message from my brother, he too wishing me a Happy Father’s Day, and then informed me of our Uncle Aaron’s passing, earlier that morning.

Before returning those calls, I needed a moment of reflection, thinking of this gentleman that I only really got to know late in life. Though I’d been around him numerous times throughout my existence, I was well into my fifties when I first became aware of the phenomenal character residing within his being. Witnessing his mannerisms up close, at times when he was totally unaware of my scrutiny, I readily observed the depth of love and admiration he held for both his two eldest sisters, my Mother, and my Aunt. A few years after my father’s passing in 1980, my Mother sold her home, relocating to South Bend, IN to live with her sister. My Uncle Aaron appointed himself custodian of their immediate welfare, doing whatever shopping was needed, whatever required lawn and home maintenance, and regularly during the winter months he religiously showed up with his shovel, removing every iota of snow from their sidewalks. Some years later, my Aunt, and Mother both shared a room in a residential nursing facility, and there my Uncle Aaron was, every day without fail, their doting companion. For the remainder of both my Aunt, and my Mother’s lifetimes, he made their well being his personal mission.

Though, we’re only a few years apart, age wise, Uncle Aaron, I welcome the father in you, appreciating the joy of getting to know you, and most of all, I live with a debt I can never repay; for well I remember all the tender care, love and affection you afforded my Mother during her declining years. A simple thank you sounds so empty. Uncle Aaron, much love, and indeed…..be well!

Bishop Charles Henry Brent’s words are of critical significance in the sense that “just at the moment when someone said, 'Uncle Aaron is gone, there are others who are watching him coming over their horizon and other voices take up a glad shout, 'There he comes! ' And now, I envision that joyous familial reunification encircling him, somewhere on that Celestial shore…..of Paradise.”
~JAMES B. EARLEY - 22 June 2015