My Uncle Mike

My dear uncle Mike passed this morning, kindhearted and sharp as ever at age 90. He was one of the younger boys in the Pip clan, which included 10 children – 5 boys, 5 girls – of which my mom is the youngest.

Mike, who I was named after, was a mountain to me. The child of Romanian immigrants, Mike and his kin grew up on a farm in central Alberta. I’m told he became a professional wrestler, such as it was, to see the world as a young man.

Eventually, along with his brother he began a successful business, transplanting to Salt Lake City. I visited him there when I was 9-years old. He had built what I thought was a mansion on a hill overlooking the city. The home was huge with several levels and more rooms than I could count. I was mostly impressed with the in-wall vacuum system, which I had never seen before. Just imagine that all you needed was a hose and floor attachment to clean this place up!

To think I was so dazzled by technology even at a young age.

My uncle and his lovely wife, my Aunty Ella, drove all the way up to B.C. in his limousine, pulling up in front of our modest rented townhouse in Burnaby. It had spacious seating in the rear with a tiny black and white television that received over-the-air signals only – which is to say I could only get a weak CBC TV signal with no sound. I recall how we drove in downtown Vancouver one afternoon, with me sitting in the back beaming as people stared at this lovely car.

After a long lapse of time we got to see each other again two summers ago, where he got to meet Stacey and our daughter Sophie at my cousin’s wedding. He was charming and funny, and still the fine man I remembered and revered as a boy.

Last Wednesday my mom called to let me know he was gravely ill, and may pass at any time. I called him immediately. He was not, as I feared, delirious, though I knew he was in pain. He was bright, lucid and it seemed resigned to his condition. “I’ve had a long life,” he told me. What a wonderful life, I thought.

My Uncle Mike was at the end of his days. I told him that I loved him, and in return he complimented me on having such a lovely family, and wished me good fortune.

Thank you, Michael. May you rest in peace.