I had a message on my answering machine from my Mom tonight.  It was kind of late with the time difference but I picked up a certain tone in her voice and I knew I had to call her back right away.  I got a hold of her and we did our usual conversation of "how are the kids, how was the weekend." but more importantly I made sure to ask how she was doing as last week she had an emergency operation where doctors removed almost 2 feet of her digestive track to remove the infection.  She made sure to state that her recovery was going well and she was feeling much better than the last time we talked.  I was extremely relieved that she was ok, but then there was a pause.

"We got some bad news this week."  

My heart sunk and I immediately felt a pain in my stomache.  I've heard this phrase from my Mom only a few times in life and everytime I did, it was serious.  "Your uncle Chuck just found out that he has stage 4 cancer and the doctors are only giving him a couple months."  What?  I was completely shocked by the news.  Cancer had once again reared it's ugly head with a vengence into the life of somebody that I love.

My uncle Chuck was a role model for me growing up.  I always looked forward to seeing him at any family gathering and he would take time asking me what I was up to in my life and was quick to offer a word of guidance or encouragement with no judgement.  My fondest childhood memory is how he knows all kinds of pressure points and whenever you shook his hand, he was quick to apply a pressure point on you and make you drop to the floor.

I could go on and on about how great my Uncle Chuck is but I found an interview that he did with the Milwaukee Journal a couple years back and if you read that, you'll read about a business man that worked hard and cared deeply for the people around him. 
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_20050926/ai_n15617934

I'm planning a trip home to Wisconsin in the next few weeks to pay him a visit, shake his hand, give him a hug, and make sure he knows how much he impacted my life.

I ask anyone that reads this to keep my Uncle Chuck in your thoughts and prayers.