La vita e' troppo breve.

La vita e' troppo breve--Life is too brief.

My Uncle George was Mr. Holland's Opus meets School House Rock. He loved music more than anything and teaching it was his way of sharing his talent with the world. I'm not sure what his students thought of him or how he even acted in the classroom, but I do know the kind of man that he was during family gatherings and holidays. He would sit in the living room, while playing his guitar and singing some ridiculous song that he had just made up off the top of his head. He had serious talent, but somehow seriousness just wasn't his thing. He couldn't help but make some corny joke while helping himself to a second piece of pumpkin pie, at which my Nana would scoff "Oh George! You're bad!"-- and then she'd laugh. I can still hear his kind of stuttered laughter...it was the kind of laugh that you could recognize in an instant.

The only thing that he loved more than his music was his family. Of this I am sure because he was always there for his sisters, his brothers, his children, his wife and his mother.

He tried to teach me how to play the guitar once: James Taylor "Fire and Rain".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwugjyeSKx4

http://www.mathewsfuneralhome.com/obit18.html