I am deeply saddened and sorry for your loss. I truly and honestly admired and respected Uncle Carl as an elder, an honored veteran and as a stubborn, blue-blooded American yankee and I can only hope that I have inherited a fraction of his will and gumption. I always took comfort in some unexplainable way that he was just "there" and naively assumed he always would be. Now that he isn't, I feel not just a loss of that comfort but a loss of part of my world. It's because of this that I cannot possibly understand what you're all going through but hope that my words, thoughts and feelings may comfort or reassure you in some minute way. He was a small man in stature but a large, undeniable presence in our lives.
God bless you all and know that he is now, more than ever, able to care for, nurture and guide us all in ways that his earthly guise would not allow.
Love and respect-Justin