There Was Only You & Me

My Uncle Dave is one of those rare people that you come across in life. You know, one of those people that you feel fortunate to have in your life. The ones you would never, under any circumstances, take for granted.

It's hard to explain, but I think everyone has at least one person in their life that they not only admire, but they adore. My uncle is one of those people that I honestly don't even think I could pick out a flaw on him if I tried, inside or out. Except for the fact that I don't see him nearly enough as I'd like to.

He's one of those good looking, charming guys that people adore. He has one of those cocky, crooked smiles that makes you want to smile back at him, no matter what kind of mood you're in. And not to mention, he's really smart. Whenever I have a problem, I always trust his advice, even if it's not the answer I'm looking for.

He was the youngest out of all the siblings on my mom's side of the family. Since he was only fourteen when I was born, he was almost like an older brother to me growing up. I was the first grandchild, so since I didn't have any siblings, I spent all my time with him.

He was always the "cool" uncle. You know, the uncle that would sneak and let you watch MTV when you weren't supposed to, or take you on motorcycle rides when your mom wasn't around. The uncle that would joke around and wrestle with you and make you "pull his finger". Ok, well, maybe that wasn't so cool, but you get the idea.

My mom and I lived with my grandmother until I was about five, then my mom got married and we moved out. Five years later, my mom and my stepfather separated, and back to grandma's house we went.

It was exciting. My uncle was still living there, so it was like old times. He'd come home from work with his hair gelled, and I'd always ask him if I could mess it up. Sometimes, he'd let me, but if he had a date, no dice. His hair always had to look good for the ladies.

I remember always being excited when he came home from work. It was like a celebrity had just entered our house. Everything was always more fun when he was around.

Well I wasn't the only one who was excited when he was home. Suddenly, my girlfriends in the neighborhood started coming around more, always wondering if my uncle was home.

My uncle had matured quite a bit in the last few years. He was now wearing hair gel, dressing nice and always going on dates. He had taken the posters of girls in bikinis down from his wall and he no longer asked me to pull his finger. All my friends started telling me how cute my uncle was.

My uncle was now a stud.

That was the beginning of the end. My uncle had been dating a Spanish girl named Helenia for the past year, and he came one home day and announced that he and Helenia were getting married.

I was happy for him. But I was sad for myself. I knew it was going to be disappointing to come home to my grandmother's house without my uncle there to hang out with.

He told me that they had originally picked out Bryan Adam's "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" as their wedding song, but they had found a better one. They chose Bryan Adam's "Heaven" instead. I had never heard it before, but assumed it must be a pretty good song if they chose it for their wedding song.

The wedding came and went. Their reception was being held on the "Spirit of Boston" cruise ship, which held thousands of people and was quite fancy.

Before long, my uncle and his new bride made their way to the dance floor, and began dancing to Bryan Adam's "Heaven". I had to agree, it was a great song choice. I looked over at my uncle, and despite my sadness, I knew he was truly happy.

At the end of the night (or early morning, I should say), my uncle came to hug me goodbye before he left for his honeymoon. At that point, I was not only tired, but very emotional for my ten year- old self. I remember when he hugged me, all of a sudden I felt this rush of sadness and fought back tears. I couldn't let all these people know how upset I was that my uncle was moving out. And more importantly, I couldn't let him know. I really was happy for him. I was just going to miss him. I knew it would never be the same after that.

He lives in Florida now, and unfortunately I don't see him as much as I'd like to. But every Christmas, when he comes back to Boston for the holidays, our whole family gathers together in excitement for our annual Christmas party. Every year, I look around at everyone and I know they all feel the same way I do. It just isn't Christmas without Uncle Dave.

It's funny because to this day, whenever I hear "Heaven" on the radio, it still makes me think of his wedding. But despite how much I missed him when he moved out, I know how happy he is now with a family of his own. I can honestly say that he and Helenia are one of the only genuinely happy married couples that I know. They've been married for over 13 years now, and my uncle still tells me how happy he is that he picked the right girl.

That's the thing that I admire about him: no matter what he does, he always makes the right decisions. I can only hope that one day when I get married, I'm just as happy as he is.