Grief, family and temporary communities

This week has been a wild ride. Over the weekend, my uncle died after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was in his mid 50s. We spent a lot of time together in my childhood, including after I left my abusive childhood home, at the tender age of 13.

My uncle was a stable presence in my life for years until, as with most things in my family, he wasn’t. The news hit me pretty hard, and was almost immediately layered with all kinds of other conflicting emotions and circumstances.