~SUMMER 2006~
Dear Dad,
I miss you. You left us way too soon and too sudden. Did you know that I was on my way to West Virginia to surprise you and Mom with a visit when you went up to heaven? It was June 30, 2005. Sharon had already told you and Mom that she was going to see you for the July 4th holiday weekend. I just couldn’t decide if I wanted to go. I went to work that day, and all of a sudden just before noon I emailed Sharon and told her that I had just decided to go see you guys too, but I wanted it to be a surprise. I called Jimmy at work and told him that I was leaving for the weekend. I hurried home and packed a few clothes and was on the road by 1:00.
The first five hours of the trip went pretty quickly, then Uncle Si called me on my cell phone when I was at Wytheville, VA. I was only an hour and a half from your house when he called. I was surprised to hear from him and asked what was going on. He said “We’ve been at the hospital all night.” I asked what was wrong and he said “Keith died.” Luckily, I had just turned off the highway and onto the exit ramp or I probably would have wrecked. I pulled over at a gas station and started screaming and screaming “NO! Don’t tell me that! Please don’t say that!” We hung up after he gave me the details. Then I had to make the hardest phone call that I’ve ever made. Sharon had just left her house in Columbia, TN about an hour before. I called her and told her to pull over. She kept asking why and I said for her to JUST PULL OVER! Then I told her the awful news and she fell to pieces. Then she had to make the calls to tell her three children.
I continued the rest of the trip to your house. That last hour and a half was the longest drive I’ve ever taken. When I arrived at your house I just sat in the car for a few minutes crying and watching for you to come out of the house to greet and hug me like you always did…but you didn’t come out. I went up to the door and rang the bell and there was little Mom with grief all over her face. I fell into my mommy’s arms like a little girl and sobbed. I wanted my Daddy. Uncle Si left after a while then Mom and I waited for Sharon to arrive late that night.
When we finally went to bed I slept with Mom. Before we fell asleep Mom said “I wish…”. I asked “What do you wish, Mom?” She answered, “I wish you would hold my hand.” She explained to me that the past few months the two of you would hold hands before falling asleep. So that night and each night afterward Mom and I fell asleep holding hands.
The next few days are somewhat of a blur. Sharon’s kids (Lenny, Karen, and Stephie) were able to come for your funeral. We were afraid Little Karen wouldn’t be able to come from the Navy, but they let her. Aunt Margie and Aunt Mary came from Michigan. You were always like a dad to them too. Jessie and Ruth came from Michigan too.
The day of your funeral when Mom woke up she said that she wanted to go see if you were sitting in your recliner. I held on to her when we went into the living room because I was afraid she would faint or something. When we reached the doorway where she could see your recliner she started crying and said “Oh, Lord, an empty chair.” She went over and laid her head in the chair and cried and cried and talked to you and to God to not make her wait much longer to see you again. It was so sad.
I’ll write another time about your funeral and about everything that’s happened since you left us.
I love you!
Love,
Karen
Friday, September 15, 2006
Dear Dad,
Happy Birthday! We all still miss you and love you. This year you’re getting to spend your birthday with Aunt Bertha. I bet you were glad to see her when she arrived in Heaven. More and more of the people that we love are in Heaven now.
I’ll continue where I left off in the last letter that I wrote.
Your funeral was so nice. The undertaker that got you ready is a nice 27-year old man. He is so good at his work that you actually looked about fifteen years younger dead than you did alive. You would have been proud. You looked so nice. I’ve never seen anyone look more alive than you did. You looked like you were sleeping with a little smile on your face.
The undertaker’s name is Paul, and we’ve “adopted” him. Mom calls him her grandson and Sharon and I call him our brother…go figure that one out. Haha He took such good care of us. He and his wife and little boy lived in the apartment above the funeral home, but now he’s gone to work at another funeral home near Charleston. He says that when Mom dies that he’ll come back to Beckley to work on her. He’s such a good guy. He’s been to visit mom a few times, and every time Sharon and I go to WV we call Paul and get together with him. While he was still living in Beckley he would go up to your grave and visit you too. He saw that your marker had sunk a little bit and he had the cemetery people fix it before Mom saw it. You would love Paul. His wife was pregnant with little twin boys a few months ago and she lost them, so when they died he got them ready for their funeral and buried them together. He said that you’re probably taking care of his little boys in heaven. Their names are Peyton and Price.
Aunt Margie and Aunt Mary sang at your funeral. They sounded like angels. Then a recording of “Peace in the Valley” was played. I also had them play Vince Gill’s “Go Rest High on That Mountain”. That song always gets to me. Vince wrote it after his brother died. Brother Atkins preached the service, and also the preacher that’s also your banker (I can’t remember his name). I asked Jessie to speak too and to tell some funny things he remembers about his Uncle Keith. He told a couple of good stories, like the time when he was in high school and spent the night at our house. After he went to sleep you and Mom fixed breakfast and then woke him up and said it was time to get up for school. He ate breakfast and kept saying it felt like he’d just gone to sleep. Then when he started walking down the road you guys called him back and told him that you’d played a joke on him. That got a few laughs. You had a lot of gorgeous flowers at your funeral. Paul gave us a poster board to place pictures on, so Stephie was in charge of putting some of our old family pictures on it. She did a good job. Your three grandkids miss you a lot.
After the funeral we took you across the street to Blue Ridge Cemetery. That cemetery is absolutely beautiful. There are acres and acres of rolling hills. The last time we visited you we saw two baby deer eating flowers from one of the lower graves. They were so young they still had their spots. You’re at the back of the cemetery on the highest hill just a few yards from Aunt Mae’s grave. From your spot you can look down at all of the beautifully decorated graves. People down there really keep the graves looking good with flowers. At your graveside funeral Paul arranged for a dove to be released. His assistant, a young man who was apprenticing to be a funeral director, went half way down the hill with the dove. Paul read a beautiful verse saying that the dove represents your spirit going up to heaven. When the young man released the dove it circled above us then flew off toward Heaven. It was a beautiful ceremony. The young man that released the dove was killed a couple of months ago in a motorcycle accident.
We’ve been recovering from your death slowly. It’s been very hard for us, especially hard on Mom. She still feels your presence very strongly. I believe you’re there with her at times. When we went to see her in May she kept finding a quarter in the bed each day, then after we left she found a pecan shell beside the bed…and no one had been eating pecans. I think maybe you’re putting things there to let her know that you’re still with her. She keeps saying she can’t wait to go be with you again.
Dad, I want to thank you for always being there for us. You were the best Dad to us and husband to mom. You were always a good provider for your family. You and Mom always gave us a stable, loving home and you raised us to be good, caring people. Sharon and I have inherited your and Mom’s sense of humor. When we’re together we laugh at some of the most stupid things. Last month when Sharon and I went to Nashville I made her laugh so hard that she said she thought she would have an aneurysm. Haha
You and Mom had a marriage that is very rare. We never heard you argue when we were growing up. You were in love with each other to the very end and will be in love through eternity. I was always impressed by the way you always held each other’s hand when you went somewhere. Mom said that you even held hands when you were falling asleep at night.
I guess I should be going now. I’ll continue at another time and tell you everything that’s been happening since you’ve been gone.
Happy Birthday, Daddy!
Love, Karen
September 29, 2006
Dear Dad,
Another Autumn has arrived since you’ve been gone. The leaves haven’t started changing here yet, but then we don’t get the beautiful colors here on the coast that we got in Michigan. Most of the trees here stay green all year. If you see one with some color you know that it isn’t native to this area. I miss Michigan mostly in the Fall and around Christmas time…and whenever I think of all the good times I had while growing up there.
Remember how Sharon and I used to always take her kids to Wiard’s Apple Orchard in the Fall? That’s such a cool place. They had a neat little country store that sold fresh apple cider, cheeses, fresh pies, all kinds of vegetables, and of course apples. They had booths with people who’d made all kinds of crafts, there were singers, a petting zoo, and an open “barn” full of hay where the kids could play. They also had a “hay ride” wagon that would take people to the orchards and we could pick our own apples. I’d like to go there again someday if I ever get back to Michigan.
So much has happened since you’ve been gone. You left us in June, and the following October I flew to Tennessee to see a play that Lenny directed. It was Steel Magnolias. He’s such a great director and actor. He won Best Actor again this year for Macbeth. I wish someone would “discover” him. I think he’s won Best Actor every year that he’s been with that group.
While I was in Tennessee Sharon, Lenny, and I went to Nashville to see Wynonna Judd. She was promoting her new book and we went to the bookstore where she was autographing her books. She was very nice and pretty. We took seven pictures with her. After the sixth picture she said “let’s take another one, this is fun.” It was so awesome to meet her. I was first, then Sharon, then Lenny. Dad, I take after you and you’ll get a kick out of this. When it was my turn to meet her I walked up and introduced myself, then I introduced her to my sister and my nephew. I was talking to her just like I’d known her all my life and I started “rambling”. I had taken a picture of my radio DJ’s holding a sign saying WWQQ loves Wynonna, so I asked her if I could take a picture of her holding their picture. So she held it up and pretended to be kissing the picture. Brian and Zack (my DJ’s) thought it was so cool that she did that.
In December I spent Christmas with Mom so she wouldn’t be alone. We just kind of ignored Christmas. I don’t think we even exchanged gifts. Then the Little Lenny went to see her the same morning that I left to come back home. The kids have been good to go see her. Little Karen’s been there only once I think since you’ve been gone. It’s hard for her to go since she’s in the Navy. She’s still stationed in Florida. You would be so proud of her. I know you’ve always been proud of your grandkids.
Can you believe your baby granddaughter got married in February? You’ll never guess where he proposed to her at. Sharon and I and Stephie and Beau went to West Virginia to see Mom and he decided to propose at Mom’s little log cabin school in Maben. We knew he was going to do it, so I had a camera ready. They used the second set of wedding rings that you bought Mom. (I’ve got the first set.) Sharon thought it wasn’t a good idea to sneak and take a picture while he was proposing, but I knew that as sentimental as Stephie is that she would love to have the pictures.
Their wedding was pretty. I flew to Tennessee for it. All of big Lenny’s brothers and sisters and their kids from Michigan were there except for one brother. Beau’s parents are ministers, so his mom married them. Sharon had such a good time. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her happier. Dad, you would like Beau. He’s soft-spoken like you and you can tell he REALLY loves Stephie. He’s going to school to be a paramedic and Stephie is still in college and she just got promoted to Assistant Store Manager at Walgreen’s in Murfreesboro. They’ve already bought a house and they have two boxer dogs. They’re very happy. Maybe one of these times I’ll be telling you that you’re going to be a great-grandfather…but I’m sure you’ll know it before I do. In fact, I bet you’ve already met the souls of your future Grandchildren. I bet you’re telling them about all of us and taking care of them while they’re waiting to come to Earth.
When I was flying to Nashville for Stephie’s wedding I had a layover in Atlanta. Just before time to board the plane I was talking to Sharon on my cell phone when I saw this familiar looking man going up to the desk to ask about the flight. It was Whispering Bill Anderson. Remember him? He’s a country music singer. He just won best song of the year for writing Whiskey Lullaby. (It’s a haunting song about an alcoholic that committed suicide. Allison Kraus and Brad Paisley sing it.) It’s a very sad song. Anyway, I told Sharon “I see Bill Anderson” and she kind of jokingly asked if I was going to talk to him. (I guess she knows me pretty well. Haha) I told her that I would call her back. He sat down right across from me and I went up to him and said “Excuse me, but are you Bill Anderson?” He said “What’s left of him.” (He seemed kind of sad, and now looking back I think that maybe he’d been to see his sister who was dying of cancer.) I asked for his autograph and told him that I’d seen him in Michigan at the state fair over 20 years ago. After we got on the plane I could have kicked myself for not taking a picture of him. So when we landed in Nashville I asked if I could take a picture of him. He told me to go outside with him to take it because his driver was waiting waiting for him. So when we went outside his driver was parked right next to Sharon. Bill and I walked over to where they were and Sharon said I looked like I was talking a mile a minute and that I looked like a little Jack Russell Terrier hopping alongside a Great Dane because Bill has such long legs. Haha. He took pictures with us and talked to us for a little bit then we left. A few weeks later I emailed him to thank him for taking the time to take pictures with us. He actually wrote back to me and told me to send the pictures to him and he would autograph them and send them back to us. So I did…and I made an extra copy for him. Since then we’ve emailed each other several times. He’s a very nice man and I think that he’s a star not only because he sings and writes beautiful music, but because he genuinely cares about his fans. I don’t think most stars would personally write to their fans like he does.
Well, I better get going for now. I’ll write again later. I miss you, Dad.
Love, Karen
