Uncles have a special role. Not being our father, they can be a friend and a supporter in a different way than anyone else in our lives. They are both a relative and a companion; one of the few people able to be both. Whether they are crazy and weird and only seen at holidays or our fishing buddy and mentor, the loss of an uncle is a particularly hard one. Their loss, however, is filled with the years of happy memories we had, and that special connection that belongs only to uncles.