My dad tried to break the news as easily as possible,  “Uncle Dave has joined Chelsea in heaven”. Of my three uncles I was closest to Uncle Dave. I had to be strong for my family.

My uncle was the second most important man in my life. He helped teach me how to play soccer, the sport I love, let his other niece and me use a whole can of whipped cream at a sleepover, and made me eat disgusting food like snow peas. At the one sleepover I had with my uncle, the night started with him, my aunt, his other niece Kylie and me all ordering Chinese food. We had ordered a bunch of different appetizers from noodles to chicken. Along with our food came vegetables when Kylie and I announced we did not like snow peas my uncle decided that we had to eat one in order to get our long awaited dessert, ice cream sundaes. Kylie went and ate the snow pea right away, but I had to gather the courage to eat it. I remember sitting across from my uncle while he intently watched me while  I ate the green vegetable slowly taking little bites torturing myself instead of taking one big bite. Finally after swallowing the last bite I could finally say I was ready for my ice cream. When dessert time came around he had pulled out a brand new bottle of whip cream and told us we could use as much as we wanted. By the time we had each used our desired amounts, and of course we had to play with it, the whole can was gone.

Dave was a very selfless man and would help anyone in need; whether it was a stranger on the side of the road or his brother, he was always willing to help. My uncle had a painting business so he could help people by painting their house or business; he went and helped my grandparents by painting their kitchen for them but also painted the Dairy Queen in North Branford. He was also a family man and made a great impact on his family and friends. One summer we went on Vacation to Maine, and my uncle had the great idea to buy a cookie monster cake with bright blue frosting. After digging into the cake after dinner someone realized my brother and cousin had blue stained mouths, that was the joke for the rest of the day.

The months to follow his death were some of the worst months of my life. My family fell apart and we had numerous obstacles to overcome. Being the oldest meant I found out about almost all of them. Hearing the fights my family had were very heartbreaking and even experiencing some of the things that happened first hand made me question why this was happening to me and my family. Hearing my family members accuse each other of favoritism and not seeing each other enough was hard because we all just lost someone very close to us and we should have been coming together as a family, loving each other, instead of fighting. Soon enough the answer to my question “Why was this happening to me and my family” became clear to me, I was setup to overcome this battle to show me that I could overcome any obstacle that comes my way; I am tough enough to push through the hardest situations and still be the strong determined girl I was made to be.