Monday, May 29, 2023
Rafa, Morgan, Ada and I would like to remember some of the good times that we had with our Uncle John. Or, as Morgan called him, the “Gizmo Uncle” because he used to watch Liz’s little dog, Gizmo. My first memory of Uncle John is in Japan where he helped tour us around when I was only eight. It was my first time overseas and I remember how exciting it was to go to a place so different than what I was used to. Miso soup for breakfast, Liz and Jonathan had to go to school on Saturday, the taxi drivers wore white gloves and everyone went to the spa naked. Uncle John was very generous and made lots of dry jokes, which even as a kid I could appreciate even if I didn’t always get them. The first time that I learned that we had similar birthdays is when Grandma Helen got a cake celebrating John’s, Jonathan’s and my birthday all at once. She put a swimmer on the cake for me and a piano for John. I still have that swimmer cake topper.
Over the years Masako and John hosted my family at their home several times and always went out of their way to be welcoming. They knew all the best Middle Eastern restaurants and how to navigate DC. I remember watching the fireworks near the Washington Monument with them, and Uncle John taking me to see the Marine War Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. They came to Ada’s and my wedding in Montenegro and, while I don’t recall them doing a lot of dancing, they seemed to like the spectacle of a line of halay dancers doing a facsimile of Zorba the Greek while spinning a flaming napkin. They were good sports when I repaid their Japanese tour by taking them around Montenegro‘s twisty mountain roads in a little bus that I’d acquired and chauffeured. They came to visit my parents in Wisconsin when Morgan was just born and we’re still reading through some of the books that John gave us. I remember him spending hours in that chair upstairs reading philosophy. When I asked him if he’d figured the world out yet he gave me a copy of a Brief History of Everything. Hardly a page turner but I read it out of respect for him and that it gave us something more to discuss. He was a very interesting person if you could get him talking. Those are just a few memories of our time with Uncle John. He probably would have had a better way to wax philosophical about this, but I’ll say that we’re sorry that he’s gone but that we’re grateful for the time that we got to spend together and for the experiences that we shared.
Condolences and best wishes,
Rafa, Morgan, Ada and Tobin Huibregtse
