Reston Style: things go on

Today is my cousin Andi's birthday. (Happy birthday, Andi!) Unfortunately her birthday is being overshadowed by the loss of her father (my mother's brother), Mark Dillon O'Rourke. He passed away unexpectedly on Saturday. It's been kind of a sad time for my family, but Andi reminded me in a post on facebook that you can be sad, but you also have to remember the good times.

Here are some things that I remember about my Uncle Mark: I remember that when I was really little, he gave me my Mickey Mouse. I also remember that at a couple of family events at my grandfathers house, he was the one that played with me when I was the only kid, aside from my sister who was still a toddler and too young to play. I remember one time Uncle Mark called my mom, I must have been in 4th grade, and I was listening in on the phone giggling. Rather than get mad at me for listening in he asked me questions and was genuinely interested in my life. Then when I was in 10th grade and we were all in Tennessee for my other Uncle's funeral, he told me that any time I wanted to come and visit I was welcome. And that if I ever needed to run away from my parents, I could come to Chicago (though he said this joking, knowing that I wasn't the running away type). Little did he know, I was the "come and visit" type, and I planned my first solo trip just over a year later. And every day when I would post a link to this blog on Facebook, Uncle Mark would "like" it. I know it's kinda silly, but it was always really nice to see. And then there's one more thing, my nephew, even though he only met his great Uncle Mark once when he was 3, he knows that Uncle Mark liked the Geico Gecko. :)