A few months ago, I was on the way to Austin to visit a good friend. Her sister asked me to take some stuff up, and we met up at some bank between my uni and her house. Right across from it, in all it’s glory, was a Vietnamese church (I found out just yesterday), Our Lady of Lourdes, designed like the Notre Dame Cathedral in France. The outside wasn’t a light tan, but a pale pink, and it looked spectacular. When Justina got there, I told her, “You picked a great spot! I think there are some hobos camped behind those trees, but that’s alright!” She replied, “I know, right?!” And we spent our time talking about random stuff, and when I was getting ready to leave, I turned around and said, “That church is beautiful. I wanna see what it’s like inside. I should just visit it, sit down and pray”. She laughed and nodded her agreement, and we hugged and said our goodbyes.

Last week, I found out my uncle passed away from leukemia. We weren’t close, but I wish we were. He lived far so he didn’t visit often, but at every family event, it seemed like he was the only person who wanted to be there. He was overflowing in love, and it was truly genuine. I’m going to call him nice, but it’s heinously pathetic, because you cannot describe how awesome his aura was. He was just a special man. In his 8 years of marriage, his wife said they only disagreed three times; she couldn’t even make him angry because he just ended up agreeing with everything she said. He was easy-going, loving, and the only time he would stop smiling was in between bites of food. He always called his nieces and nephews “precious”, but we all knew he was pretty priceless himself.

Well, I got my wish, but in the worst way possible. I was in utter dismay when I saw the church. I take back my insignificant, stupid wish.

He didn’t deserve all his pain and suffering. May you rest in peace, Uncle. They say God calls his best children home early. I just hope one day we’ll be able to understand why.