My “Uncle Vic” died last week. I put that in quotation marks because he wasn’t a blood relative. He was my dad’s best friend. I lost my dad four years ago and now that Uncle Vic has died (he was 91), it feels like another piece of my dad is gone. Uncle Vic got sick about 10 years ago and I remember thinking how devastated my dad was going to be if he died. Who knew what the universe would have in store …

My siblings and I went to the wake and funeral. Shared a lot of memories with my “cousins.” Our families grew up together. My mom was best friends with my “Aunt Peggy.” The only solace I take is that the Fab Four, as we called them, are together again.