The Truth About Watching My Uncle Leave in Slow Motion

by Thomas Beckwith

Image credit: Bruno Aguirre on Unsplash

I have learned time by watching my dear uncle grow old.

The pain of my bloodline dissipating in such fashion is

foreign to me; he is now in his mid-eighties—

Neither of my parents made it past fifty-five.

A man who once was agile, witty, well spoken,

and had a memory of steel is not a picture I can erase

on Etch A Sketch.

He was never mistaken for the Pillsbury Doughboy—

Just a short, compact, well-dressed middle-aged gentleman

who handed me Andrew Jacksons is the childhood memory I have of him.

I can’t ever say we’re close, it is not like he lived nearby.

But I left an impression on him when my mother suddenly died

right before I turned twenty-five. The calls became more frequent,

and it was his way of letting me know I was not forgotten and

making her (my mother) immortal.

As the years passed, he would call to wish me happy birthday,

or just to say he was thinking of his sister (my mother).

Unexpectedly after several years the calls stopped happening.

I couldn’t grasp what was happening after all, neither

of my parents made it past fifty-five. Then there was one winter,

I went to visit because of a family tragedy. It became clearer

his memory comes and goes like the wind blows.

He is now a bit frail, and some might even say he is aloof,

but when he sees or hears me it triggers a spark in his eyes and voice.

I am not sure if it’s because I remind him of his sister,

or when he looks at me, I am the spitting image of his younger self.

The fact of the matter is he is no longer the man I once knew.

He forgets, I remember. It’s now my turn to call until his time expires.

***

Thomas Beckwith

Thomas Beckwith is an Assistant Director for the University of Florida’s Office of Academic Support, where he provides support to students including academic coaching, leadership development, and holistic success planning. He also enjoys writing in his authentic voice, finding it to be a therapeutic way to process experiences and overcome past trauma.