Remembering my Uncle Ray

Tomorrow we are finally putting my Uncle Ray to rest. He passed away in May of cancer, but it was down in their winter home in Florida so we could not be there. Some of my earliest childhood memories are of going up to his and my Aunt Shirley's cottage at Torch Lake. They had everything a kid could want up there. Motorcycles, snow mobiles, boats. There was never a boring moment up there. He also had a great collection of old radio shows like The Shadow, and Flash Gordon. I used to get so creeped out when that voice came on, "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!"The days were spent driving around the lake in his Sea Ray boat. Either fishing or stopping off at the many restaurants around the lake. They were also spent riding motorcycles or in the winter snowmobiles. There was so much to do up there and it was part of my formative life. I was never afraid of motorcycles or snowmobiles because I grew up with them. Above that I came away with a love for the water that I still have today. No place I would rather be.
As I grew up I helped out in the print shop that he owned and my dad worked at. When I started High School, I went to live with him and my Aunt Shirley until my parents closed on their house. By then he was into horses and had Thoroughbreds at his house that he kept there until they had their foals. I had never seen an animal be born until I went to live with him. That is something that you never forget when you see a foal being born and taking its first steps. They never had anything to say when I lived there. I never felt like a stranger there. But as time goes on we grew apart. I am not sure what happens with married couples, but it seems that one side of the family seems to not be seen as often. This is what happened with my parents. I am not sure how the decision gets made, but holidays and birthdays were always spent with my moms side of the family. We kind of grew apart from the DaSilva side of the family. So I had not seen my uncle and the DaSilva side of the family for years. Probably since my grandmother had died. You think that time is going to last forever, the people you love will be there forever. Unfortunately that is not the case. People pass away and the time is lost. I am going to make sure that I don't lose any more time and try to reach out to that side of the family. You only get each minute once. One it passes it is gone. Don't waste them. This is one of the last pictures taken of him with my dad and my Cousin Dennis.

His prayer card

I’m sure God has a ranch in Heaven
A place for cowboys to call home
With dusty trails and deep passes
Where cows and horses freely roam
I picture you up on a ledge
Gazing at the draws below
Leaning forward with your Thirty X
Stetson hat pulled way down low
I can ‘bout hear the leather creaking
When your gelding switches feet
Your spurs softly jingle in the wind
Your rope’s tied on and coiled neat
There is contentment on your face
You’re happy, but I can’t pretend,
Though I’m glad you’ve made God’s journey,
That I can truly comprehend
In my earthly ways I question
The reasons God took you away
I guess the timing was exactly right
To enter Heaven on that day
The only comfort I have found
That puts my grief to rest
Is that God only takes the top hands
Because His crew’s the very best
We still cry and we sure miss you
And all the things that might have been
But God needed one more cowboy
And He felt you’d fit right in
So He sent down all His ranch hands
An extra horse stood at their side
Then he softly whispered to you
“Saddle up, my friend, let’s ride”

God Speed Uncle Ray