Uncle David

For years i wondered the truth about your death
All your brothers and sisters telling us different stories
Anne saying it was a skiing accident
Peter saying it was a car crash
Tom saying it was malaria
And Patti saying it was God wanting you all to himself
After years of wondering
I now know the truth
On 27th 2009
Your sister Katy told Josie, Justus, Elle, and me the truth
You had a drinking problem
You drank yourself to death
When I found out I was scared and shocked
But mostly sad
Sad that your nieces and nephews never got to know you
And you never got to know them
We only knew wonderful stories about you
Stories about how when Katy would say I'm cold
You would drop what you were doing
And dash to get her a sweater
About how you would take the blame
When your sisters did something wrong
I wish I could have known you
Known how much you loved flying
And birds
I remember when my mom first told us about you
I was 5
She said that you wanted to become a pilot
And that your favorite bird was a blue heron
And she told us
"Whenever you see a blue heron,
That's David looking down on you"
She was right
A few summers ago when I dropped the canoe paddle
Getting stranded
You and 5 of your friends
Landed on our dock
My mom ran out to see you and she saw me
She got the jet ski and saved me
When i got back to shore I told her
"Mom David really is looking down on me"
For years I wondered and now I know