Mark came into this life in 1952 and departed this life in 2007. He was 54 short years old. It was, as it is for all of us, a brief moment in time. Mark was the only son of my sister Dorothy. My sister was 13 years older than me so when Mark was born I was only around 8 years old. My mother told me that Mark could be like a little brother if I preferred. However, when you’re 8 years old, the idea of being referred to, as an Uncle, sounded more grown up. And so I became Uncle Bob to Mark and later to his younger sister Penny Joy. I was and remain so very proud of my title to these persons. When I was 15 years old, my single mother thought that I would do better in my life if I had the opportunity to grow up in a family environment and she asked my sister if I could live with her family. She and I agreed and I left the mountains of Pennsylvania and lived in the mountains of Colorado with my sister’s family. I tell you this brief personal history because it was then that I became closer to Mark and knew him more as a little brother than as an Uncle. He was 7 and I was 15. Mark was always the quiet, inquisitive young boy who was interested in everything from games to how everything worked. He would take things apart and put them back together again; just to find out what made those incredible gadgets do what they did. He had a gift from God! Mark has a very sensitive and a very gentle soul. He was very close to his mother and both of them had a sense of humor that was private yet infectious to all who knew them. Their relationship was one where Mark understood the meaning of genuine love, as I’m sure he finally found again with Samantha. Mark knew God. I don’t believe he ever blamed anybody for the sadness in the back of his heart. It was just his quiet way. It was his grace. I think Mark always walked towards the light of God and did all he could to keep his shadows behind him. We all know about our shadows, don’t we? Perhaps all of us should follow Mark’s lead. I believe that today and forever, Mark is home with his mother and our family in heaven. I believe he is finally at peace and has once again found that genuine love and tenderness that existed in his soul. His loving friend Samantha has symbolically submitted his ashes into the Pennsylvania ground, the home state of his ancestors, where he will again captain his small boat, as he did on Galveston Bay as an innocent boy, with all the hopes and dreams of all of us who are sent by our Lord to fulfill a mission we may never understand on this earth. So I say, Sail on Mark. Sail on my Nephew. Sail on my Brother. You are FREE! We miss you, we are proud of you and we love you! Uncle Bob