The Twins.

Since they were babies, my uncle and dad have been best friends. They dressed just alike, as all identical twins should, when they were little. Even recently, they'd find they had yet again chosen the same shirt or clothing item despite living across the country from one another.

They WERE just alike. I can remember as a little girl being able to tell them apart easily, but other people had trouble. You just knew the difference; there was something different about them, but I couldn't tell you exactly what it was. My uncle grew a beard as he got older and the family joke was that he was the "evil" twin (if you've seen the Star Trek episode with Spock in the alternate universe, you know what I'm talking about).

My uncle later bought my grandparents' house in Chappaqua, NY, and family gatherings continued there well into my teenage years. He and his wife were excellent hosts and fun parents. I always knew the rules were more lax at this place, and the snacks were there for the taking. And they had *good* snacks, too, not the old Saltine crackers with peanut butter stuff we always had to take when we went places. My uncle was cool, and a very funny guy.

Since the 1990's, my father and uncle would send emails daily. Sure, they were mostly cheesy and contained bouncing happy faces and silly jokes, but every night it was nice to check my inbox and see their notes to each other, cc'd to the whole family. He sent one late Saturday night about how he was getting this and that together for an upcoming meeting, and he was going to bed.

Early on Mother's Day, we received a phone call relating that my uncle is gone. He was only 59. My family is devastated. Would you please pray for them? My father will have a very hard time with his birthday soon. There will be no call or email from his twin waiting on that day. My aunt will spend her first Father's Day as a widow, and her (thankfully grown) children will not have their father with them.

My heart goes out to them all.