The title of this post is something my Great Aunt Shirley said to my mother at the rosary for my Great Uncle Leo. This phrase was uttered in reply to my mom saying that, "they say behind every great man is a great woman." My Aunt didn't miss a beat. In the midst of all her pain, all her grieving, and all her exhaustion, she was still able to crack this joke.
This past weekend was my Great Uncle Leo's funeral. I heard story after story about how much of an amazing person he was. I always knew he was a very kind, a very driven, and a very intelligent man, but I was completely unaware of the magnitude of his graciousness, and the impact he had on people. The pure love he showed all of his family and friends. I can't, and will not attempt to, put into this paltry blog post how special of a person he was. His love trickled down through his family and generation after generation, and each person he touched was a little better for having known him.
I can't say enough about how wonderful of a man he was, and what he meant to all of us. He inspired my brother and I to get through college, and not to take life too seriously.
I can only hope to pay it forward by acting in a manner that would make him proud, and really looking at the world in a friendly light and treasuring those that I love so much.
God bless, Uncle Leo. You are the giant's shoulders that people stand on.
Leo Francis Milan - April 15th, 1930 - April 19th, 2010
