Another loss

We have had another unexpected, devastating loss in the family this week. My Uncle John Nuzzo, beloved husband of dad's sister Kathleen, died Sunday of an apparent massive heart attack. Kathleen found him on the living room floor when she returned home from being out and he was already gone. John was just 65 years old. I can't imagine the pain that Kathleen is experiencing. 

I wish I could say that I knew my Uncle John better but it has been many, many years since I spent any time with him. I have wonderful memories of visiting Aunt Kathleen and Uncle John when I was a kid at their lovely Mill Valley home. He was an amazing cook and made a mean blackberry pie. He also did some magic tricks which thrilled us kids. He did one trick, a disappearing cigarette that I remember discussing at length with my parents and sisters. We asked him to do it several times in a row, watching so close for the trick, but of course we never saw when the lite cigarette disappeared. We thought that he might eat them since he would only do it for us a few times and we never saw a trace of the cigarette again.

John was also a talented blues musician, something he definitely had a passion for. He played the harmonica and sang in a band and I was lucky enough to watch him preform once at a club in San Fransisco. It was an unforgettable experience; I being an underage teenager used my sisters ID to get into the club with my family. The show was fantastic! John was also a talented painter, though I am not sure if it is something he continued to practice. I remember seeing some of his watercolors, I don't think he like to show them off, but they were really great. I will also never forget when Grandma Thompson let it slip to my sisters and I that Uncle John made his living in the adult film industry, something my parents had kept from us. When we were older we got to hear the funny and memorable story of when Grandpa Lester Thompson learned this fact about his daughters boyfriend! Kathleen and John were truely a perfect match and were married for 23 years.  I remember him fondly and he will be missed dearly.