Farewell, Uncle Joe

Five years ago, when Maya was a tiny little comma curled up in her Mama's belly, Andy and I flew to Los Angeles and, before driving up the coastal road to San Francsisco, we stayed in the home of my Uncle Joe, Dad's brother. This was the first time, as an adult, I'd really had the opportunity to get to know Joe and his amazing wife, Gladys and their lust for life was inspiring and motivating.

You can just about make Uncle Joe out in the top picture. He's pointing to a painting on the wall at Venice Beach of one of his friends, a man whom he also helped off the streets and paved the way for a better life for him. That was Joe - always helping people. But he had so many hats. To quote from his obituary: 'There was Joe the real estate developer, the film maker, the builder of low-income housing; Joe the raconteur, the tap dancer, the actor, the musician, the clown; Joe the soccer couch, the gardener, the magician, the world traveler, the political activist.'

When we lived in India last year, my cousin told me he read each of my 'Adventuring Maya' blogs religiously (and believe me, there were alot of them), then printed them off and stuck them in a book. After reading one of my blogs in which I'd written about Maya's love for Charlie and Lola, she received a package in the post from Uncle Joe filled with Charlie and Lola books.


I hardly ever saw him, but I'm going to miss not having him there, across the pond, with his contagious smile and insatiable thirst for justice. 


Farewell, Uncle Joe.