It’s been a tough week. We lost my Uncle Larry, my super hero
I wanted to share my thoughts that I intend to read at its funeral. Words really can’t fully describe how special he was to me. This is my only post this week, out of respect for him. His beautiful life needs to be honored
We all know that Larry loved basketball. From the time I was a little tyke, my brother and I wanted to play basketball with Larry. We would go to Grandma Heid’s house, race up the steps and grab his two small basketballs. Larry would throw the ball with us and we would pretend to play Wynford versus Bucyrus. (Of course, Wynford would win because we were country kids), but that didn’t bother Larry because he was plugged into us as kids. He wasn’t an absentee uncle, no not Larry. Quiet frankly, we really never paid attention to Larry being in a wheelchair, to us he was just a super hero uncle.
As we grew older, we would walk in the back door of Bucyrus High School to watch the Redman play. When you went to games with Larry, you were treated like royalty. I was amazed at how many people he knew and how he treated everyone special, that wasn’t an act. That was Larry
He’d sit in that far corner, stat book in hand and quietly keep score. At least that’s what it looked like from a distance. As I grew older, he would draw me in close and point out the strategy of basketball. He may not have been able to play, but he understood the game on a very cerebral level.
Larrt was always up for an adventure and road trip. He took many a trip to Philadelphia, Columbus and Los Angeles to visit. But my favorite, was the trip to California, my freshman year. Here we were Larry, dad and myself stuffed in the car, me squeezed in the back, Larry with his maps, and my dad driving. About 3 days in, they began talking about a trip to the Grand Canyon. I was against it, with my strict schedule to get to school. But when I fell asleep and awoke, we were at the Grand Canyon. As we wheeled Larry up to the viewing area, the sun was setting, birds flew magestically in the sky, the canyon was in all of its splendor. It was one of those lifetime moments. Larry knew how to seize the day
When we eventually arrived at USC, I remember that we sat Larry outside by where the band was practicing, as well as the beautiful song girls. My dad and I joined the hundreds of students to register. When we got back to Larry, he was intently watching the band, head bobbing in time to the music. To this day, I remember his words, you’re going to love it here that darn hand has the best fight song. That’s when I knew that Larry had the heart of a Trojan, because only true Trojans love that fight song. When it came time for them YO leave me, I bent down to give Larry a big hug and he whispered, I’m proud of you girl. You’re going to make something of yourself
I remember these words when my life gets tough. He was there for me my entire life, through each peak and valley, always supporting and adding valuable advice. I’m so lucky to have these wonderful memories and am going to dearly miss him. Larry shows us that difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations. And to me personally, he’s a reminder to make your life extraordinary, because that is exactly how he lived his life.
