Cassie’s relatives provide countless reminders of her, with all the little quirks they shared. But there is one person in particular who has an absurd amount of the same attributes Cassie had. She, like so many others, have helped me to rebuild something broken—an identity.
Ever since that first moment I was called “Uncle Rich” (or Uncle Ritchie), I’ve had an overwhelming desire to claim the title of Favorite Uncle! It was a dream that Cassie supported wholeheartedly, and that she even made her own. In fact, if we got to be near any of those seven nieces of ours, Cass would go out of her way to make me play with them. Because two of those nieces went with me to West Virginia, I was bursting at the seams with excitement, thinking of all the things we could do together.
Cassie’s first trip with me to West Virginia was not very fun for her. She despised frigid air, cramped road trips and talking to near strangers through a stuffy nose. But she looked forward to sunshine, outdoor adventures and sharing life with kin. See, God made a promise: The world will keep spinning, winters will pass, summers will come and life will thrive again. I went to West Virginia with that same promise in mind.