In Memory

I'm writing with a heavy heart, the phone rang this morning and the voice told me my uncle had died.

I'm going to come to terms with it in my own time, he was everything to me.

He was diagnosed with Motor Neurone only last week, I'm thankful that he didn't have to go to the depths of suffering assosciated with that horrible disease. He had made his peace, he didn't have the strength to fight that.

To try and capture in words what he meant to me would be a useless exercise, I cannot describe the love I had for him. He was caring, kind, supportive and a gentleman. There is a hole now, there is a hole.

A memory I hold dear was the night we took our families over to The Pop Factory when my old band The Firebrand were playing a battle of the bands. My Uncle and Auntie stuck out like sore thumbs, so much so that a drunken teenager staggered over and said, 'I'm not being rude, but what are you doing here?!'. Upon being told they were supporting one of the bands he shook their hands and gave my Auntie a kiss. Later on in the night, my Uncle was waiting at the bar where the queue was about six deep and that same boy that had asked him what he was doing there saw him and opened up the queue, telling everyone, 'C'mon boys have some respect!' just so my Uncle didn't have to wait around.

I am going to miss him everyday.

April 14th, 2009: The day my world crashed down around me.

God bless Raymond Luker.