What I want you all to know about my Uncle Brian

1). He wasn’t my biological uncle, yet so much more than an uncle to me as you are about to see.
2). He was a Marine and damn proud of it.
3)He also loved his middle name, Ignatius. I thought it was just another weird obsession of his until I heard the story of St. Ignatius of Loyola at his funeral. And then, I got it! His spirit and soul was so much that of St. Ignatius" Read the story. You will get it.
4) He was THE ONLY person that could call my daddy “Johnny” and get away with it. No eye roll, no huffing and puffing from my dad. If you know my father at all, you will get this one! To me he is Daddy, and to Uncle Brian, he is Johnny.
5). I chose him as my confirmation sponsor. He was the only male sponsor on that side of the church that day. And boy, he loved that fact! The entire ceremony he was plucking me in the back, making fun of the priest, and talking to my friend Gina’s sister, who was her sponsor. I was super annoyed. Who does that in church? And he made me break a rule! He kept making me turn around! Read on, and you will understand this SO much more!
6). At my prom, he tried to buy my friends and I liquor. I yelled at him! What kind of grownup does that? I said “You are supposed to be a role- model” (my exact words by the way) My friends hated me. He loved me more for it. And yes, he made sure he was there taking pictures of me at my prom!
7). His favorite thing to say to me was “C’mon, Chris” and he would chuckle this goofy chuckle and poke me in my left arm. And it hurt like a bitch! And his favorite thing to say to my dad was “C’mon, Johnny!” It’s true, I am my father’s daughter! 
8). When my parents weren’t around, he let me watch MTV. Another rule that was broken. We danced to “Welcome to the Jungle” as my sister was in the ER with my parents the night before Easter. Man, was I tired the next day! Just look at the Easter pictures with me squinting.
9) In high school, when I was listening to crap, he introduced me to classics—Zeppelin, Flyod, Springstein, Jackson 5, and Sinatra!
10) He tried to dance my first dance at my wedding with my Dad and I. And I was so mad at him for that! Again….who does that? He said he was trying to fix my Dad’s collar. That is what I thought, too and I was so mad until I watched the video. I think we all know better! Don’t believe me? Watch the video…the man was a wreck that day!
11) He was the first person who ever admitted to me that he thought I deserved better from my relationships than I expect from people. Actually, I believe the exact quote was “C’mon, Chris, (annoying chuckle) you are too smart for him, you must have known you deserved better!DUH!”
12). When I was first going through my divorce, he bought me a HUGE box of booze. He made sure to call me because he knew that I liked “some type of fruity, foofy vodka” and he wanted to make sure it was in the box o’ booze for our party. Not only did he spend hundreds of dollars that day, but he convinced the liquor store owner that my mom, who doesn’t drink, was a recovering alcoholic and told him “to watch her” as he stepped outside. He was outside on the cell phone with me to make sure he got everything that I and about 50 of my closest friends would ever want to drink, because we, him and I, were having a DIVORCE PARTY ! As all of this is happening, my mother was getting the stink eye from people in the store. He didn’t just buy one bottle of what I like. Nope... not MY Uncle Brian--more like 10 of each. And then he called me to tell me to make sure I told my mom that I wasn’t going to drink it all at once. Oh, and that he would buy me more if we needed to cover it up to her! To this day, I CAN NOT and WILL NOT touch those bottles. I hope that at my post marathon party , I might be able to. That is what he would want. His gift was meant for a party, and life, as he taught me, is meant to be celebrated. I am just a little stuck right now. He would be saying right now….”C’mon Chris”, because he knew how I got stuck and he knew how to get me out of it!
13) He taught me not to take life so seriously and that it is okay to break rules!
14) He inspired me. Not so easy to do.
15) I am so sorry that all of you reading this didn’t know him and I hope that you all too, have an “Uncle Brian”.
16) His life was taken away from him and all of those who loved him WAY too soon. It was a beautiful life. He was a beautiful man. It is so unfair. I am angry and I will never understand it. It will never be okay for me. But he touched my life in a way that will stay with me forever. He taught me that life was meant to be celebrated, to be lived deeply, laughed at, lived by your own rules, and not be taken so seriously.