I have been so blessed to have my Father live to be almost 93 years old. My Mom is 83 and dealing with his death is probably the hardest thing she has ever had to do in her life. They were marrried almost 58 years. What a void there will be in all of our lives but especially in hers.

Dad’s legacy is l0 children, 33 grandchildren, 33 great grandchildren, and l0 great great grandchildren.

My Dad was in the Marine Corps and served in World War II, the Korean Conflict and Vietnam. I have been with him when he had on his hat that stated he served in all three wars and people would stop and shake his hand and thank him for serving our country.

My Father was saved and baptized when he was 89 years old. He said he didn’t want to go to church until he knew he could be committed and not be a hypocrite. Mom and Dad were baptized together that day, though Mom was previously baptized.

We all remember what a stinker he was when he was younger. But somehow, once he got saved, all that was old news. He read the Bible every day and went into the bedroom and prayed for over 30 minutes every night on his knees.

He was a great father. He taught us to work hard and be responsible. He loved my mother with all his heart. When I visited them in NC and slept in the spare bedroom, I could hear parts of their conversation as they were saying goodnight to each other. As they said they loved each other, I found it hard not to cry. It was always so sweet.

Dad wasn’t always good about saying I love you when we were younger. I remember being in the hospital with a suspected appendicitis. When Dad came into the room and saw me hooked up to a bunch of equipment, he immediately went down the hallway with his voice raised asking for the doctor. This was the first time I realized how much he loved me. He hated for his kids to be sick. My sisters shared memories of Mom hiding us when we stayed home from school sick (when Dad came home for lunch).

So, keep us in your prayers, especially my Mom. Often when once parent dies, the other follows shortly after. We could not bear to lose Mom, too. Dad was our strength and Mom is our heart.

I am not saying my oldest sister has a temper BUT she got mad with her husband and took his wedding ring and hers and flushed them down the upstairs toilet. They were young and hadn’t been married long. James’ ring stayed at the bottom of the toilet and he retrieved it but Sandy’s was gone since it was lighter weight.

Years later, like 20 years or so, Sandy started thinking about that ring again. She had a couple grand daughters and was thinking she could give each one a ring, had she just not thrown her band away years ago down the toilet.

James had been doing some remodeling on their home by that time. Occasionally, Sandy would find coins in the toilet downstairs. She started thinking, wouldn’t it be great if my ring would reappear. Shortly after that, after much praying, she found her ring in the downstairs toilet (20 plus years later).

True Story….

My sister, who shall remain nameless, is really smart. She is two years younger than me. In high school, she was popular–class officer/cheerleader and so on. If she had been older than me, I would have probably been popular just because I was her sister.

As an adult, she has said some really funny things. She just doesn’t always think before she talks. She doesn’t have a dirty mind either and the rest of us do.

My sister was having a party and went grocery shopping for some snacks. She went up to a young teenage boy stocking the shelves and asked him where he kept his nuts. Once she realized what she said, she quickly walked away from him.

Another time, a soap opera was on. There was a character named Peter Jenkins or something like that. They kept replacing the character with a different actor every week. When she walked into the room and saw they had another guy playing Peter’s part, she said, “That’s the ugliest Peter I have ever seen”.

I have a couple more but I better not share them. I have already said enough. Sorry, Sis.

When Brian was about 4, he was outside playing across the street. We lived in a very quiet neighborhood on a cul-de-sac.

It was close to dinnertime so I called him. He didn’t come. I called him again. He didn’t come. I figured he must have went into Eric’s house but I called one more time.

He came into the house and said “Sorry, I took so long to come in. I didn’t hear you the first two times you called.”