A Gift From My Dad’s Brother

This is the first Father's Day since we lost our dad, Clifford Falcon.  Recently, a wonderful gift from my dad's brother, Paul, arrived in the mail.

It's a book with stories and pictures, hardbound, professionally created (looks like they ran Spell Check and everything!).  The book is titled "My Brother and Me: Memories", and it was written by Uncle Paul.

During the introduction, Uncle Paul tells the tale of how the Falcon Family in Acadiana came to be:   the Legere family of Nova Scotia (my grandmother's family 7 generations back), and the Falcon family of the Canary Islands (my grandfather's family, 7 generations back), made their way to Acadiana, giving two of them a chance to meet.

The book is just a collection of stories told by Uncle Paul that involved our dad.  The stories aren't groundbreaking or earth-shattering, they don't hold the secret to life, but they do allow us to get a glimpse into the lives of my father's family when he was a kid.

One of my favorite stories is about Cora, the blind mule.  It seems that she made an evening on the porch a little unpleasant for Aunt Mable when she was being courted by our soon-to-be Uncle Adam.

The book was a wonderful gift from Uncle Paul, just in time for Father's Day, probably the toughest Father's Day my siblings and I will ever face.

We've always liked our Uncle Paul, and it seemed that he and Dad were getting closer as the years passed.  The "Epilogue" of the book gives some insight into the character that we call "Uncle Paul":

As Father's Day is celebrated around the country from now on, my siblings and I won't be able to spend the day with Dad, but we will certainly be able to enjoy stories from a simpler time; stories about a man who preferred the simpler things in life.

Thank you, Uncle Paul, for a gift that will stay with us always.