He was one of my favorites since I was a little kid. I remember one Christmas when he came home on leave from the Air Force, he and my Dad sat at the dining room table putting together model airplanes that Santa brought me! I wasn't allowed to help!

I have several letters and "post cards" of my Dads' while he was a POW in WW2......and in almost every one he asked about his "little brother". They were very close growing up and through the years.

 I was so lucky to be at the right time to go hunting in the fall with them at their Uncles' farm in Pemberton every year, and fishing with them at various locations in the spring and summer. We all had so much fun in our time together.

He would very often visit our home on a Saturday afternoon as I was growing up, and my Dad and him would just kid around with each other with what  I am sure was the same brotherly relationship that they always had.

I remember when I came home from my military service overseas he was there to see me on the very next day. I was very happy to see him.

When my Dad died, he was devestated, and I remember stories he told me about my Dad that I had never known that were sort of like secrets of their growing up. That was while we sat as a family the night before my Dads' funeral. Those stories cemented in my mind how very close they were, and how strong their love for one another was.

So Uncle Don, you are now free of the chains that held you here on earth and tortured you for the past sveral years. Go see God, you erned it. See Mom Mom and Pop Pop, my Mom and Dad, Aunt Evelyn and Uncle George, and all of the family who went before.  And just remember that we all loved you.