I shouldn’t say his name online so I won’t, but you’ll know what you needed to know about him by the end of this.

He was a father. He was my dad’s best friend. When I was young, my father told me that if anything happened to he and my mom, we wouldn’t be going to live with my grandparents, we would be going with him and his wife and their newborn baby girl. I was told he was my uncle. He wasn’t by any means related to me, but he was so trustworthy and kind and genuine that my dad trusted him and my mom trusted him more than my mom’s parents. Think about that.

He owned a couple properties on the street he lived. My dad talked to him about the real estate business one day, and within 10 years he was almost a million dollars richer. He built up his home, made it real nice, and when the right time came, he had a kid. I’ll always remember his smile.

Two years ago, he was out driving, stopped at a red light. He couldn’t have known this, but up ahead was a car maneuvering around others, at least double if not triple the speed limit. Cop cars followed behind him. But stopped at that red light, he was in the way. He was no longer a person but an obstacle. His car was no longer a vehicle, it was an inconvenience. With no warning, no signs of trouble, he was hit dead on in the front driver’s side. He did not make it. He died on impact.

The guy who killed him? He’s alive. Barely hurt him. He’s in jail; only committed 3rd degree murder so he may be out sooner than expected. Who knows. He’s alive.

But my uncle, one of the best men my father knew and one of my favorite adults to be around, died, and while he won’t be back, his impression and his imprint still strike hard. There will never be another of him. There will only be him.

When the news came, I had to see my dad in pain. I had to see him look out the kitchen window, we having moved away from him and his wife, and he just stood there for well over an hour. I can’t imagine what he was thinking.

People like him ought to be remembered. They better be. They are not inconveniences. They are not obstacles. They are uncles. They are fathers and husbands and all-around beautiful people. The best in the world. The best we’ve got.

Beauty. They are beauty. They are everything in the most perfect form.