(no subject)

This morning, I learned that my great uncle died last night as a result of alzheimer's disease. I didn't know him terribly well, but I don't know a lot of my extended family very well. I knew that he was a luthier who made and played classical guitars, and playing guitars makes me think of him. I didn't know that he was a unicyclist, and had made a 6-foot unicycle that he used to ride. Now a second skill that I practice in my own life will make me think of him. How funny, these things that sometimes run in families even without conscious awareness.

Sometimes I think of all the wonderful things that he, or my grandfather the blacksmith and farrier, or my great-grandfather who ground his own telescope lenses could make with their hands and I feel rather lacking. Right now, it's probably an accentuation of the unexpected lack that exists in my world with the passing of a family member.