Daddy,
I remember you telling Kay,Sue and me,"You girls have been taught what's right and wrong.If you choose the wrong way when you leave home,don't blame the world.Look inside yourself".Our footing was solid because of you and Mom and the path we should take was never in doubt.You made sure we had  two sets of encylcopedias,which was unheard of,teaching us to never stop learning despite what age God had planned for us.I remember the day we climbed up that hillside to get Mom a redbud tree.A terrible storm hit and you sent me home.I didn't want to leave you;I was  so afraid that something bad would happen to you.The storm abated,and there you were,carrying this tree over your shoulder.

The day Mom died,Sue,Kay  and I knew we had lost our best friend.But
we knew you  had lost  your wife  of  35 years  and had no way  of knowing the pain you felt.There was no way I could have known that 7 years later,at the age of 34,I,too,would have to lay to rest my gentle,beloved Bobby.

When my Bobby died,it was your words that helped those first few days when the death of a husband and father was almost beyond my ability to handle.You knew my pain because you had lost Mom only a few years earlier. You also taught me that  to  sit  and look  at the night sky,seeing just a glimpse of Bobby  wasn't insane;it was God's way of letting me know that Bobby was safe.

The squirrels and birds you loved to watch and feed now come to me now.Sue has hummingbirds all around her front porch.I wish you could see the raccoon family that visits me each night.You gave us that love for the "critters" of this world.Did you whisper to them where they would be welcomed now that you can longer tend to them?

Mom,how I wish you could have watched your grandbabies grow up.They're men and women now.Although they were babies when you died,we girls have kept you alive to them.You were so proud of them and loved sending a package each month filled with the most thoughtful gifts.You never got to laugh at their antics and see them become fine young men and women. We placed the locket holding their pictures with you before the funeral began.You were so proud of it we knew it belonged with you always.Daddy can tell you about them now.You probably already know.Something tells me you were never far away from any of us.There are so many days that I would give the remainder of my life if I could just hear your voice for one minute or have one  of the hugs you gave so freely.Maybe God has you watching over the smallest angels or taking care of the beautiful flowers you loved so much while you were with us.

Daddy joined you not long ago .He shares that hilltop with you where the tall trees give you shade and the wind blows gently.You no longer are tied to the weight of this world but are a part of the universe.I remember how you always believed you would walk in Heaven with Jesus and how you saw Him just a few hours before you died.Knowing all this doesn't take away the loneliness of knowing you and Daddy are both gone.I really do hear you on the wind some nights,singing with the voice of an angel.The song on this page is Precious Memories and how well I remember the quartet singing this on the day  we laid you  to rest.It was only the presence of God that made it possible to say goodbye.When Bobby's life on earth was over,I said goodbye to him with the same song.It kind of made me feel like you were watching over him,too.

I never see an Indian summer or forget the music playing as we all spent Sundays driving through the mountains .Depending on the season,it  was a wonderful site to see;the mountains covered in a blue mist,or looking like a patchwork quilt;other times frosted with snow or an emerald green welcoming spring.After all these years,I still remember the picnics we had under the tall trees where Daniel Boone had once walked.There was a presence there we could all feel; one of the places that left no doubt that only  God could create such beauty.

Those days will never be again.But how much richer we are for having had them.If you had been the richest people on earth ,you couldn't have left a finer legacy than the one you did.I know when you both met Jesus face to face,He surely said "Well done my good and faithful servants."

We are  your daughters. With so much of your beliefs instilled in our very being,you live on  in us just as surely as there is a heaven.

We send you our love.You never leave our hearts.
                                            Trish,Sue,and Kay

and your grandchildren,Skeeter,Shane and Kim