My Uncle Sven (Jim)

I woke up this morning with a message from my Dad. He was quite upset and left me the message that my Uncle Jim (my Dad's brother), had passed away after a long battle with cancer. I listened to his message again, had my cup of coffee and called him back. I only received his voicemail, which was good as I was still wrapping my arms around the first message he had left, and I was still half asleep. This gave me the time to think and remember all of the great times I had as a child growing up and knowing my Uncle Jim. We called him Sven. I don't exactly know why we called him this, but the name stuck and I'm going with it.

My earliest memories of my Uncle Jim were when we visited Wisconsin and he was a policeman- I think it was volunteer, but nonetheless I remember him standing in the kitchen of his house in a uniform. I have no idea how old I was, I was very impressed that he had such a dapper uniform. My Uncle Jim was larger than life, he was very tall. One time, we went up to Michigan to ski- which was really weird since I lived in Colorado. We had an amazing time. My Uncle Jim and my Dad were in the same business when I grew up- they manufactured packaging. This gave me, my siblings and my cousins a very privileged life as they were both successful. We would all get together every year in Vail to ski. This was one of my most memorable childhood experiences. I always looked forward to my Uncle Jim, Aunt Pat and my cousins - Tom, Andy and Betsy coming out every year to ski. We would ski in Vail and Winterpark/MaryJane.

My Uncle Jim was an amazing skier. My Dad and Uncle Jim grew up skiing and racing in Minnesota. The both taught skiing- my Dad at Winterpark (CO) and my Uncle Jim at Little Switzerland (WI). Although his knees were toast ( I am now learning with age, this has got to be a Nelson genetic defect), he continued to ski effortlessly and enjoyed it. My fondest childhood memories were skiing with my Uncle Jim, Aunt Pat and my cousins.

I am very saddened to know my Uncle Jim has passed, but I am also in celebration of his life. He was an amazing man with an amazing life. He raised a great family, had an extremely successful career and will have a positive impact on many lives in our future. You will be forever in our hearts!