kirby1024: Kirby taking a ride on a star. (Kirby Wheee!!!)
Last night I went to the wedding of two very good friends of mine [livejournal.com profile] being_bec and [livejournal.com profile] laza_burnz. Words, really, feel inadequate to express how wonderful and beautiful the wedding was.

I could go on with a blow-by-blow of the wedding, telling people exactly what happened, but honestly, the details weren't relevant (although I will say that I found the heavy focus on tolerance and love during the ceremony itself absolutely wonderful). But throughout the entire wedding, from start to finish, you could feel the love and wonder. From the celebrant honestly enjoying every step of the ritual, the merging of Jewish and Christian traditions (and the explanation of the symbology behind everything), to the look of absolutely joy on the faces of the bride and groom... I felt on the verge of tears throughout a goodly amount of that wedding night.

It was a wonderful salve for the soul. With me having been so emotional all week, I guess it was inevitable that I'd feel so much more at this wedding, but I'm honestly glad I did. There was just a magic in the air. "I'll stand by you" as the first song, the wonderfully silly but honestly touching story [livejournal.com profile] being_bec's father told of the Magic Pancake Maker from Bec's childhood knowing he wasn't needed anymore because she had found someone who would take care of her as she needed for her life, the absolutely wonderful venue at Overnewton Castle... Every part of the wedding just shone in it's own way.

I'm going to end this post with one last note - I wish [livejournal.com profile] being_bec and [livejournal.com profile] laza_burnz the best of luck in their marriage, although I'm not sure they'll ever need it. I would also, just because I'm feeling that sooky, would like the wish the same once more for all the marriages that I have attended in the past years. To Daniel and Rhiannon Heath, Hannah and Miles Langmead, Jenni and David Allen, Melanie and Matthew Weatherson, Aaron and Emma Braegen, not to mention all those couples who have married that I haven't mentioned here, I wish each and every one of you everything you want and need in your marriage and in your lives. I love each and every one of you, and hope your love lives within you for as long as you so desire.
kirby1024: Kirbinator Icon (half-my face, half-terminator face) (Default)
Last night, my Dad gave me news that I was not really expecting - I was told that my Uncle Michael had been found in his apartment, close to death. He told me that they had revived him, and that he was in intensive care, but he had almost died several times that day, and it didn't look like he was going to wake up, even if they kept him alive. In short, Dad said, it wasn't looking good for him to survive for very much longer.

And this morning, my Mum called me up to let me know that Michael had died during the night.

Today I have been giving myself a day to actually try and process my feelings towards my Uncle Michael, since I know that if I don't do it soon, it's likely to cause problems down the track. I have this trick, that I'm so very good at dodging my mind that I can just not think about issues in my life. But I know that's unhealthy, and I want to talk about this. So, I write this, my tribute to my Uncle Michael and Me.

I've often called my Uncle Michael my "crazy uncle", and I use the term with all the affection in the world. He was a role model of sorts to me in my youth, an academic in academia, incredibly intelligent and well spoken. He was a parapsychologist, one of the few operating in Australia. For most of my memory of him, he was even getting paid as a Visiting Fellow at the University of Adelaide. When I was in high school and when I was in university, I would always keep track of his latest academic developments. In a way, I was something of a fan of his work, and every now and then, he would send me articles that he thought I might find interesting.

My memories of interactions with my uncle are mostly from when I was younger. Early in his career, my Uncle was a Latin scholar, and I recall when I was quite young, my Uncle would try and teach me bits of Latin. At the time, my love of languages had not quite evolved, and I never paid terribly much attention. That said, I still tried my hardest - he was my uncle, and I loved him dearly. I remember a lot of discussions with him on various topics, although my being younger typically meant I was the one learning from him.

Although he was an incredibly intelligent person, that came with it's own side-effects. My parents saw a lot of my uncle in me, including a not terribly brilliant set of social skills. I had a tendency of looking down my nose at people when I talked to people, and didn't realise as a kid that it showed as a sense of superiority. I'm glad for those warnings, I think my ability to interact with people is much better now.

I remember often talking to my friends about my uncle. What my uncle did was incredibly interesting, and was always something we could discuss. There was one conversation in Korner, between me and [livejournal.com profile] shemjaza, about how, if I'd been around in the 1920s, I'd so be a Pulp action character, with my famous Uncle into weird phenomena, me the linguist in training, and him being funded by the Bial Foundation, which sounded so very much like some shadowy organisation for good. I'd be swept away from my university lifestyle to accompany my uncle on daring adventures!

My feelings about my Uncle's death are... mixed, as you'd expect after just a day of being told. Above all, I miss him so. I haven't seen a great deal of him in the past couple of years, but the fact that he was around was always in my head. A relative that I had so much time and interaction with, someone who has been around my entire life is gone, and I think I'm still trying to adjust my view to that. I feel so terribly sad for him, and for my Grandpa and Grandma, who now have the task of burying their son, something which I can only imagine the pain and sorrow of. I worry about my uncles and my Dad, all of whom have lost a brother.

And I think of all the interactions that were yet to come, that I thought I had all the time in the world to go through. He had just recently joined Facebook, and I never got to see how he would use it. I wanted so badly for him to meet [personal profile] erinkyan, who also wanted to see him so very much. I wanted to see him one last time, although maybe that one is just because I feel robbed of an opportunity to say goodbye to him. Of all the things that I'm writing here, that's the feeling that makes me cry - the last time I said goodbye to him was two years ago. I'm such a different person now than I was two years ago, that I feel that he's lost the chance to see me as I am now. I think he would be proud, at the very least happy, to see the kind of person I have become, and I hate that I no longer have the opportunity to show him that.

Rest in Peace, Uncle Michael, You have lived a great life, with a family that loved you, so much, and you are missed, so very, very much.
kirby1024: Kirbinator Icon (half-my face, half-terminator face) (Default)
Yeah, so I haven't been posting much, probably due to lack of internets at my workstation. So, figured I'd do the obligatory posts...

Christmas
Christmas was excellent. Final Swag total includes a new Digital Camera (which me and [livejournal.com profile] not_in_denial have been playing with a bit!), BSG Season 1 (I got Season 2 Last Christmas, so I've been waiting a while for the first!), The Austin Powers Box Set (I had a craving for it. Don't ask), and various sugary goodies. Also got a car kit for my iPod, but as it turns out, the car kit was not, in fact, for an iPod, but was for another player instead, so I'm waiting for my brother to get that swapped for me. So, really, all good!

[livejournal.com profile] not_in_denial and I ended up going to my parent's place for Christmas Lunch, which was pretty much exactly as I was expecting (which was good food, chance to see family, nice relaxed atmosphere). [livejournal.com profile] not_in_denial was a little uncomfortable there, just because he's not generally comfortable around my family for the obvious reason (like, for example, they're his boyfriend's family). Still, we had a good time, had a go on my family's new copy of Buzz (Sports Edition - needless to say that me and Erin didn't do so well).

So, all up, a very good christmas, methinks.

New Years
Our household ended up having a small New Years ([livejournal.com profile] simma14's Party was far better advertised and thus just about everyone went there this year), but I think that was good because I actually enjoyed the small-party atmosphere for a change. Also, we had a couple of people come around that I hadn't seen for ages (Like Hannah and [livejournal.com profile] littlesir, [livejournal.com profile] pfhsblog, etc). So there was lots of nice discussion. It was, however, extremely hot, but I doubt that that's going to change significantly no matter where you went. Bizarrely, I managed to sleep like a baby afterwards - the heat didn't seem to affect my sleep patterns at all (I swear, my bed and I are sleep-bonded - any time I'm on my bed I get to sleep in less than 20 minutes. Well, to be fair, that's the same of just about every bed, but it's even more impressive on mine!)

New Years Day was, thankfully, a touch cooler. Me and [livejournal.com profile] not_in_denial ended up hanging at [livejournal.com profile] velitu's place. We ended up bringing up a few issues that [livejournal.com profile] not_in_denial had on his mind, which was good because they really needed discussion (mostly about my emotional issues and how they seem to be affecting certain parts of our lives).

As so often seems to happen on New Years, I had a bit of a breakdown, but it's gotta be a good thing in the end - We ended up coming out of it realising that I really need to work on improving my emotional skills, since I don't ever seem to actually feel much these days - I always seem to be one step removed from what I'm feeling. We're already making progress - I actually felt the love I have for [livejournal.com profile] not_in_denial for once, which was a little scary. I'm hoping that by the end of the year that becomes a constant thing, not something that Erin has to work on getting me to do.

I'm hoping that this is a good omen, and that this is a sign of good things to come. Happy New year everyone, I hope your New Year exceeds everything you could dream of.

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kirby1024

January 2011

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