Saying good-bye...

My Dad, the banker...

Magazine ad (or cover) for Ennis Business Forms catalog.  Ennis, Texas, sometime in the 70's.

My Dad, the son...

Yes, I believe his outfit was pink.  It is one of the old pictures that they actually paint the color on.  I'm guessing someone thought he was a little girl!

My Dad, the brother...

With his little sister, Ann, who was born when he was 12 years old!

My Dad, the husband...

Mom and Dad on their wedding day, September 28, 1952.

Mom and Dad, sometime in the 70's

My Dad, the father...

My Dad and me...Easter, 1959

With my Dad...February, 1978

My Dad, the lover of animals...

With Lucky, the incredibly skinny kitten that I "rescued" from work and talked my parents into taking.

My Dad, the philanthropist...

Signing a proclamation of some kind...Campfire Girl days...Corsicana, Texas, sometime in the 60's

Citizen of the Year, 1971, Ennis, Texas

My Dad, Lyndsey's #1 Fan

Mom and Dad in their favorite spot.  Brownwood, Texas, 2001.  And if you wanted the best seat in the house, you had to beat my parents to the games!

My Dad, the grandfather...

Jeremy, age 6 weeks, first visit to see Grandpa at the bank, December, 1979

With Lyndsey, Summer of 1983

With Clint, my brother David's son, Fall of 1992 (I think).

My Dad, the GREAT-grandfather...

With Jeremy and Kristin's twins, Eric and Aden

With Lyndsey and James' son, Jud

Mom and Dad...the last picture I took of my Dad...

 Mom and Dad at my house...September, 2010

My Dad went into the hospital on December 11th,
then to a nursing home on December 21st. 

He died on January 20th. 

There were several contributing factors...adult onset diabetes, uncontrollable blood pressure, dementia, and he was dangerously thin. His body was worn out, and he was tired.  I would give anything in the world to bring him back, but not the way he was in the end.  He wasn't in pain; he was just miserable.  The night before he died, I spent several hours with him.  Just the two of us.  I told him how much I loved him.  I told him that he was the BEST father ever.  I told him how much fun he had been and how thankful I was to have had him as my Dad.  I told him I would help take care of my Mom and his little dog, Buddy.  I told him if he needed to go, that everything was going to be okay.  That his job was done.  And God was waiting for him.  And that I would see him again.  In Heaven.  He never talked that night, but he seemed to relax.  So, I went home in the wee hours for a little sleep.

I made it back to the nursing home the next morning just in time to tell him good-bye. 
And that I would never forget him. 

Because, it has been said that a person never really dies...unless they are forgotten.

You, my sweet Dad, will NEVER be forgotten.