Nephew Remembrance

A Remembrance by Todd, Kip's Nephew

Kip is/was my Uncle, my mom's sister's husband.

When Cissy (Charlotte) first brought Kip to our house for Christmas we were not quite sure what to make of the man that looked like a model out of the Orvis catalog. Also he had a name like Kip, what's a Kip?

By the time they were packing up to leave I am pretty sure that I, along with my brothers, forgot to hug and kiss Cissy goodbye as we were all trying to get the last bit of attention from "Kipster, the aging hipster."

We were not alone in those feelings. Some 20 Christmases later, we would invite friends whose families were not local, to spend Christmas with us. There would be a pause, then the question came, what time is Kip and Cissy going to be there, and they would see us then.

I had to deliver a boat down to Houston. Cis and Kip invited me and a friend to spend the night. They took us out to dinner, and as usual long, eclectic discussions passed the time. Kip noticed that Shawn was not involved in the conversation. Kip turned to Shawn, found out what interested Shawn and spent the next 20 minutes in a one on one conversation with him. Shawn told me later that Kip made him feel like "a million dollars, like he was something special." That is Kip and what Kip has left with us. The feeling that you were special and that he cared. When he spoke to you, you knew he was not passing time but truly interested in you and that you mattered. A lesson more of us need to learn!

Whether you met Kip once or knew him for twenty years, you knew Kip and Cissy both. They walked into the room, and no matter the occasion, and the mood lightened. There were more smiles, more brotherhood. I will miss Kip terribly but he is with us all. Anytime you hear a loud crazy laugh it will be Kip. Anytime you notice that there is not one water spot in your sink, Kip was there.

Kip and Cissy loved to travel. If you were lucky enough to go on a trip with them it was a better trip for it. If not, hopefully you were lucky enough to hear about their adventures. They loved traveling and immersing themselves in the culture they were in. Kip and Cissy then had the very unique ability to describe the vacation without sounding like they were bragging and without putting you to sleep.

I will miss both traveling with them and hearing about their travels. But I do look forward to the last trip, that is going to see him in Heaven where I am sure he will have quite tidy by the time I am there.

--by Todd