Text 25440, 169 rader
Skriven 2009-06-28 21:43:28 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
  Kommentar till text 25407 av hap newsom (1:124/311)
Ärende: dad                                                      [1]
====================================================================
Hi Hap,

->  hn> All went very smoothly, a wonderful service
->  hn> followed by a masonic rite of burial performed

-> Good, I presume there was was a military component (flag presentation to
-> your mom, etc) as well.  And now I see why you remember my name so
 hn> well.

 hn> The South Carolina service had the flag
 hn> presentation, and the 21 gun salute
 hn> and one of Pop's old friends played
 hn> taps. The local fire dept (Pop started
 hn> it and was the first fire captain and
 hn> bought the first fire truck himself)
 hn> did a "Last Call" honerary and gave
 hn> Mom a Firefighter's flag as well. I missed

Nice tear jerker, the Last Call one.  Sounds like your dad did a lot in
the community.  You may have hard times with him while growing up but it
sounds like you're right proud of him now.

 hn> that service but the one here in Tenn
 hn> was tough enough...I have a hard
 hn> time hearing taps in a graveyard.

After 26 years with the military it's hard to hear it anywhere.


 hn> And yes...your name is easy
 hn> to remember...I just have to
 hn> remember to NOT type Aunt
 hn> in front of it!(grin)

Well, I had an Aunt Ruth (my dad's only sister).  I heard plenty of
"Aunt Ruth" the past few days from nieces and nephews & great nieces and
nephews. (G)

->  hn> of the funeral ceremony a flock of white doves
->  hn> was released, then an additional lone dove was

-> Pretty; they must have had hours of training to do that.

 hn> White homing pigeons I think. A
 hn> good PR thing for the funeral home
 hn> as it does make a lasting emotional
 hn> message for the family. It sure did
 hn> for me.


Same as the "MIssing Man" fly over.  Most people don't realise what it
means but if you've had any sort of military connection........

->  hn> beautiful. Afterwards we went to a local restaurant
->  hn> for a buffet brunch. A small "shrine" had been
->  hn> set up with pictures and articles written about

-> Nice way of remembering; I've seen that in the foyer of churches some
-> times.  It's fun when there are baby and very young childhood pictures,
-> especially when you've only known the person as an adult.

 hn> Yep, lots of folks were surprised to see
 hn> my dad without a beard..he's had one
 hn> since he retired from the Airforce.
 hn> My nephew's daughter (3 years old)
 hn> said "That's NOT POPPA, his face
 hn> is naked!" At three she's not fully
 hn> aware of what happened but she
 hn> knows her Poppa has gone to
 hn> heaven where (she says) he'll
 hn> be "fixing things that get
 hn> broke"

Rather astute thinking for a 3 year old.  Robert was bossing some of his
older cousins around last week, much to the amusement of parents.  We
had a family get together at Steve's folks--as usual, lots of food but
also lots of people to eat it.

->  hn> my aunt's home for dinner and "visiting".

-> Catching up on the years.  We got to see one of our nieces we'd not seen
-> in 9 years.  She now has 4 children; the youngest is 5 days younger than
-> Sarah.

 hn> For me it was meeting some of
 hn> my cousin's wives for the first
 hn> time.

I don't think I've met all of Steve's cousins yet and we've been married
almost 34 years.

->  hn> My mom has been very strong and composed.

-> Good.  Is there a military widows group in the area where your mom
-> lives?  I knew of one at Fort Huachuca; from what I read, they were

 hn> I don't know, I'm sure Mom does
 hn> and if she wants to participate
 hn> she may.

It may take her some time but she may eventually decide to join a group
like that.  If not, then she feels comfortable as is.  But, as you say,
after 60 years of marriage, it will be a rough time for a while.


->  hn> I'll be staying until Sunday, then on Sunday I
->  hn> will be going to Memphis where I'll spend the night

-> Going to the bbq place?  We've reverted back to our original plan of
-> leaving Tuesday, still planning to get back on Friday.

 hn> Bozo's? I'm seriously thinking about it..
 hn> went to a BBQ place tonight with my
 hn> nephew, his wife and 3 year old...what
 hn> a cutie she is!

Sounds like you had a good time.

->  hn> It will be good to be home but it has
->  hn> been a great experience seeing relatives

-> I know, even seeing some (of Steve's side) that I'd not seen in a while.
-> Rachel and Deborah saw some of their cousins & Robert got to know some
-> that were close to his age.  Most everybody thinks that he looks just
-> like his grandpa (Steve).

 hn> I've been getting a lot of
 hn> "You look JUST like your dad!"
 hn> while I'm here as well.

So be proud of it.

->  hn> that I have not seen (in some cases)
->  hn> in more than 20 years.

-> I know what you mean; we've not seen some of ours in that long or
-> longer.  My brothers are starting to try to set up a family reunion
-> picnic for next summer to celebrate my parents 60th anniversary.  Labor
-> Day week end was suggested but that one woouldn't fit school schedules
-> easily; Steve has suggested July 4th week end.

 hn> My family has the longest running
 hn> family reunion (and camp meeting)
 hn> in the USA..it's been ongoing since
 hn> 1826 but it's held near here
 hn> in Tabernacle Tenn...in August....
 hn> and NO WAY am I going to subject
 hn> myself to this weather if I have a
 hn> choice about it.!
 hn> Do a google search on
 hn> "Taylors of tabernacle" and
 hn> you'll find several good references.
 hn> chat with you soon!
 hn> hap (who will likely visit
 hn> tabernacle tomorrow to see
 hn> more of the family graves.)

Sounds interesting, I may give it a "look see"

---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


...  Whatever awaits you around the corner, God is already there.

--- PPoint 3.01
 * Origin: Sew! That's My Point (1:396/45.28)