A Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Week

Good-bye, Uncle Myron. See you in Heaven.

This week has really been lousy.

First of all, my car broke down - well, not exactly broke down - but the dashboard lights quit working. So, I took it in to the dealer to get fixed. Well, it was fixed - not! So I took it in the next day, and they fixed it again. The second time they "fixed" it, it was really fixed, it appears. But it ended up costing me about $450.00 to get the dumb dashboard lights to work again. I also lost all the billable hours I could have billed if I'd been at work, instead of hanging around the car dealer waiting for the mechanic to figure out what was wrong. That cost me another $400.00 or so. All this because of some defective taillight bulbs that were shorting and causing a fuse to blow. Doh!

I'm whining, I know. It isn't like I can't afford to pay to get it fixed. I could even have fixed it myself, probably, had I been inclined. I'm not inclined, though. I make a fair amount of money, so I don't have to work on cars and do other stuff I hate. I pay other people that are good at it and enjoy it to do that stuff for me. I don't even mow my own doggone lawn. And I wonder why I'm fat. Well, not really. I know why I'm fat. Don't interrupt while I whine.

On top of that minor episode, though, I found out that Mrs. Pete is going to need surgery. Nothing serious or life-threatening, but not exactly trivial, either. It's stressing me out somewhat. A few years ago, she had another surgery that was more serious. As you know if you read this article I wrote (all three of you), I'm a complete wimp when it comes to medical procedures. I occasionally pass out when I get shots. No lie. So, the idea of the Mrs. going in for surgery is not one I'm thrilled about at all. I'm going to have a talk with her about the importance of her internal organs and how they all should remain where God put them.

I also found out that my best friend at work is getting laid off. She's a gal I've worked with for many years and has become a really good friend. We don't work together directly anymore, but I still talk with her frequently. She's a great listener, and I can always count on her to give me her honest opinion on things, which is really a valuable quality in a friend. So, I won't see her or talk to her as often probably, and I'll miss her a lot. This news is not good.

The last straw in my lousy week was seriously sad news - Mrs. Pete's uncle Myron passed away in his sleep last night (Wednesday, November 12, 2003) .

Uncle Myron was a man that I admired and loved very much. He was really smart and active, and always wanted to learn new things, even when he was in his 80's. He just got a new computer about a year ago. I say "new" because it wasn't his first computer. He surfed the web and exchanged email with friends all the time. Every once in a while, he'd call me to ask a question or two about how something worked on his computer. I was happy to explain things to him, because I knew that he really wanted to know. Like Myron, I hope I never lose the desire to learn new things.

Uncle Myron served in World War 2 in the Pacific theater fighting against the Japanese. I asked him about his experiences a couple of times. It wasn't something that he really liked to talk about much, I think. He did talk about about one of the beach landings they did. I can't remember which island it was, but he told me about all of the bodies floating in the surf and how horrible it was. I recall him saying that some of his best friends were killed.

I know other people that served in the Pacific theater that still have hatred toward the Japanese. They would never buy a Japanese car, or anything else Japanese, either. The atrocities of war have permanently burned that hatred into them. While I don't share that hatred by any means, I understand it. Those people witnessed horrors that, thank God, I have never experienced. I am reluctant to judge their hatred, since I very well might feel the same if I had the same experiences.

Uncle Myron didn't hate the Japanese. You see, he was a strong Christian, one that lived his faith. His Christianity wasn't nice words or going to church on Sunday.

No, Myron lived it. So, after leaving the military at the end of the war, Myron went to Japan as a missionary, to reach out to the people that had killed his friends. He and his wife, Aunt Irene, stayed in Japan for over 30 years. Their children were born there and grew up there. Myron learned the Japanese language so well that Japanese people couldn't tell that he was an American when they talked with him on the phone. He could read Japanese newspapers and books - a rare skill for someone not raised with Japanese as his native language.

Even after all he had been through in the war, Myron loved the Japanese people.

About a month ago, Myron was invited back to Japan by some people he knew there. They paid for his plane tickets and all his accommodations, so that he could be honored. He had founded a small church in Japan, one that has grown to have several hundred members, and they wanted to thank and honor him for the years of service he had provided to them. He went, not to be honored, because Uncle Myron was a humble servant of Christ. Myron went just to see his old friends and spend time with them. That's what was important to him.

I will sorely miss Uncle Myron. I wish I could tell you all about his steadfast faithfulness and love amidst heartbreaking trials and tribulations in his family, about his love and forgiveness, his humility, his curiosity and intelligence. The world lost a truly amazing man yesterday.

But as the Apostle Paul writes, "to live is Christ, to die is gain." Philippians 1:21 I will miss Uncle Myron, and our family will miss our father, grandfather, uncle and husband, but our Lord has taken him home. Myron is now with Jesus in Heaven, who has said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' Matthew 25:21

Yeah, it has been a tough week, and I'm sad about Uncle Myron's passing, but I'll see him again someday, and for that I'm so glad.

Good-bye, Uncle Myron. See you in Heaven.

11/19/2003 - Update

I attended a memorial service for Uncle Myron yesterday. It was incredibly moving, and lasted for over two hours! So many people had wonderful things to say about him - how he impacted their lives for the better. I didn't know this when I wrote the original article above, but Myron was awarded a Bronze Star for his service in World War Two. Here's the regulation for earning the Bronze Star:

The Bronze Star Medal is awarded to any person who, while serving in any capacity in or with the Army of the United States after 6 December 1941, distinguished himself or herself by heroic or meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight, in connection with military operations against an armed enemy; or while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.

It doesn't surprise me at all that Myron would be awarded a medal like this. He was that kind of person. Sometime I will ask Aunt Irene if she knows what he did to earn the medal. That is way cool!

I also found out that Myron founded nine churches in Japan, that have now grown to twelve churches. Several people from Japan sent messages about Myron and several were at the memorial service yesterday.

I regret now not knowing Uncle Myron better than I did. He never was a person to broadcast the things he did, so unless you really asked, you wouldn't know. I wish I had asked more about his experiences in the war and in Japan. It's going to be a strange Thanksgiving without him at our house this year.

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