Uncle Frank returned to say goodbye to mother but he did not just bring his sorrow with him.  No, Uncle Frank brought with him every reason that had kept him away for the past 5 years.  My last memory of Uncle Frank was a blurred jumble of presents and laughter and scornful looks from family members.  Mother was the only one who looked at him with a kind of wide eyed interest that no one ever seemed to understand.  My mother stayed in line, she played by the rules.  Uncle Frank did anything but that. 

To this day I still believe that Mother envied him. I think she longed to feel as free as she thought he must have felt.  Little did my mother know at the time though that he was just as trapped as she was.  He was just trapped by something far worse than his family obligations or a need to please.  It didnt take her long however to figure out what scared my uncle more than anything.  With the arrival of Uncle Frank I wasnt far behind finding out exactly what his secret was either.  And as I begin to unravel the secrets he brought with him I also found out something about my mother I would have never thought possible.  As I immersed myself in his stories and his life I found out more secrets than I think I may have ever wanted to know.

What Uncle Frank brought with him is something that still haunts my thoughts to this very day.