My Uncle Jimmy was like a father to me on my mother’s side of my split family; he adored me as a child and is fond of making children lively in general.  He would take me for ice cream on hot summer days and help set up birthdays for me.  When I was about nine, he had a daughter named Hailey, and when I was about twelve, he had a set of twins named Hayden and Heavenly.  Unfortunately, shortly after birth Heavenly passed away.  Even though we didn’t know her long we all became downhearted to find out she hadn’t made it. 
Fast-forward a year and a half, Hailey is six years old; Hayden is one and a half, and I am thirteen.  My sister Elizabeth is turning nine.  Her birthday is right before Christmas, though we celebrated it the Friday after.  We had some other family over and the kids played with their new toys. 
Then the phone rang shrilly, and everyone looked at the phone dock.  My dad answered the phone and handed it to me; that’s when everything changed.  My mother spoke on the other line, “Kaitlyn?” 
I sighed.  She always had poor timing for calls. “Yeah, Mom, what is it?” 
“It’s your uncle; he passed away, and they just found him a little while ago,” she coughed into the phone.
My body turned cold with a shiver.  Speechless, time had frozen as I sat in my chair, “W-What happened?” I asked meekly.
She took a deep breath, “I don’t know.  I’ll call if I get anything else.”
I sat baffled, “Wait what about the kids…Mom?”
She had already hung up the phone; my family looked at me and asked what had happened.  I shook my head devastated and told them my uncle had passed away and that I don’t know how.  Questions started running through my mind as I sat there. I had lost interest in hearing what the people around me were talking about.  I thought about how he could have died:  What if he got in a car accident?  What if the kids were in the car?  Does my grandma know? How is she holding up?  What happened to my uncle?  I picked up the phone and dialed my grandma’s number: “Come on, and pick up Grandma.”  She didn’t answer the home phone or her cellphone.  My stepmom and dad asked if I wanted to talk about it; I shook my head and went downstairs to my room.  The room fell silent as I left; they all just stared at me.
  I went into my room and looked through photos from just a few days ago at Christmas, and other photos from when I was little.  I could only think, I just lost “my dad.”  Part of my whole life to this point was gone.  I couldn’t get ahold of anyone.  Why isn’t anyone communicating with me?  I wanted to know what happened.  I wanted to see my cousins; I wanted to know what had happened to him.  After the company left, I tried calling again, and no one picked up.  I remember the empty tone of my grandma’s answering machine.
That next week the viewing went on; my mom had finally contacted me about something.  She hadn’t said anything about how my uncle had died, but at least I knew partially what was going on.  I went to the viewing after music practice.  I walked in the doors and walked up the stairs to find my cousin in a bleak room.  I hugged Hailey when I saw her, “Hi, Hailey.” 
I smiled and held back the grievous feelings as she said, “Hi, did you see Daddy?”
I smiled weakly, “No, not yet, I wanted to make sure you guys were doing okay.”
“I’m okay.  Hayden was cryin’ for you earlier,” she pointed downstairs.
“Hm,” I stood up, “Well, I guess I’ll go see him then.”
I went back downstairs and scanned the room for Hayden.  My eyes stopped at the casket before I saw him.  I walked up to it as if it were all a joke, and he wouldn’t really be lying inside.  That little hope was crushed when I saw him lying still with eyes closed.  I saw his body cold as stone and limp as a string lying in the casket.  Warm, wet tears slid down my cheeks; I held my breath as if it would stop the tears from flowing.  It didn’t help at all.  The tears streamed as I stood there without a sound. 
Suddenly, I felt something warm touch my hand, “Kaytwin?” I knew that was Hayden.  He held my hand.  I used my other hand to wipe the tears off my cheeks and then bent down to see him.
Again an aching smile appeared, “Hi, Hayden.”
“Daddy’s sleepin’,” his smile and face aglow to see me.
“Yeah, he is buddy.  Here, you wanna see him?” As I lifted him into my arms, my eyes teared up again as he said, “Bye, bye Daddy.”  I almost fell apart right then.  Hayden started crying when I did.  My arms were weak because of my sobs, so I put him down.  I had to take him away and listen to my cousin cry loudly in the corridor.
When he and I stopped crying, I lifted him up to see over the casket again.  I heard someone behind me.  My Aunt Kayla stood there, “Hi, Kaitlyn.”  I hugged her with Hayden still in my arms.  I hadn’t seen her in a long time, not since before graduation two years ago.  She asked how I was holding up; I worried more about her since she didn’t see her brother very much.  She didn’t get very involved with this side of the family very often because of school, but it was nice to see her.  My grandfather stood there also; he told me I had grown up quite a bit since he last saw me.  He moved to Tennessee a few years back in the middle of my fifth-grade year. 
Though we don’t know how my uncle died, I can say one good thing about my uncle’s passing.  He brought our family closer together.  My grandfather visits more often, and my aunt takes us kids out.  She took us to see my grandfather back in December for the holidays.  Even though we are all sorrowful to lose my uncle so young, we will remember him.  I’ll remember all the times he smiled and comforted me; I’ll remember the way he played with his children, and I know that he’s in a better place taking care of Heavenly.  I guess she needed her daddy a little more than we did.