My Uncle Jerrie

This post has been a year in the making. I wanted to write it last year, but to be honest, I just couldn't. I tried a few different times, and I couldn't. So I saved what I would write and waited. 

One year ago today, my Uncle Jerrie passed away. It was one week to the day after our girls were born. He was diagnosed last Spring with Pulmonary Fibrosis. If you dare search this disease on Google, the outlook is grim and unpromising. The symptoms and side effects progressed rapidly; he was admitted to the hospital on September 9th, 2016 and would never come home. 

Jerrie was one-of-a-kind. He loved his family fiercely, was always on the go, loved baseball, loved watching the kids in our family play ball, ate the food on his plate one section at a time, had a good story on just about anyone he met, could quote movies and tv shows like he wrote the lines himself, was an excellent artist, witty, shared inside jokes with all of us, followed Christ. 

He was the baby in the family. He and my dad have four older sisters, then my dad, then Jerrie. To say he and my dad were spoiled is an understatement. They were loved well and the apple of my grandma's eye! 

Not a day has passed in the last year that I've not thought about him....many others will say the same thing. His death stung. We weren't ready to let him go. 

When I think about what I miss most about Jerrie, I miss the relationship we had. We didn't have to say much to each other, but we just got one another. We'd laugh at things other family members would do that we thought was hilarious while no one else did. We could have a conversation with just a few facial expressions across the room to each other. We would quote the movie, "Oh Brother Where Are Thou" ALL. THE. TIME. We had frequent conversations that included dialogue from that movie. We quoted "The Andy Griffith Show" alot too..."I ate three bowls...eatin' speaks louder than words"...

I miss the random text messages and FB messages he would send me. I've not brought myself to delete any of them. 

Jerrie and my Dad could weeks without seeing each other and pick up right where they left off. I assume growing up they were inseparable. Most childhood stories my dad has ever told have included Jerrie. They were brothers...

and they were the best of friends. 

Jerrie set and left us an example that will never be filled by anyone else. Earthly goodbyes are gut-wrenching. We know he is having the time of his life in heaven. We know he's spending his days with friends and family who've passed on as well, and no doubt my Mammy is cooking his favorites every day. Life is hard without him, but what a blessing he was and still is to us. 

To watch his family navigate their new normal this past year has been uplifting. Their faith is strong, their love and loyalty to each other is unparalleled. I pray for them daily. I ask that you do as well. 

When I told them we were having twins, my aunt Cheri cried and he just looked at me with big eyes and nodded his head. When we found out they were both girls, he immediately named them Shirley and Pearlie. (There is no doubt in my mind, he had been pondering name options for weeks before us finding out. I can't imagine what he had in mind for a boy-boy or boy-girl outcome!) 

My mom's name is Shirley, my great-grandma's name was Pearlie. The names were a joke, but they stuck. To this day they are my favorite nicknames our girls have! For our Baby Shower, he wrote a poem. After the girls were born and I was finishing their room, I wanted to include Jerrie's poem. I had it framed and there's a photo in a matching frame next to it of our girls. 

For Halloween last year, I had tiny shirts made for our girls. It was only fitting that for their first Halloween they "go" as Shirley & Pearlie. 

I just know he would get a kick of this! The girls were born one week before he passed, during that week we sent multiple photos and videos to him and my Aunt Cheri every day. We were spending our days in the hospital Nursery and he was spending his in ICU. I wanted so bad for him to see Amelia and Mae Parker, and he did thanks to modern technology as it is. I will forever be thankful that. And I know he'd love watching them grow this past year. I look at our girls, and I think of him. Every day. 

My cousin Jenifer and her husband have welcomed a precious baby girl this year. I just know she would be the apple of her Poppa's eye like the rest of his grands! In the most beautiful tribute possible, Jenifer and Brandon named their sweet baby Jeri Oaklee. 

We miss him terribly. We feel his impact in our lives daily. We are forever thankful he is ours. We can't wait to see him again.