Guest Book

Many Thanks from my family I posted a picture of Dad on a thread in the AG.. We buried my Father yesterday. I thought it was going to be a very tough day. The service was much easier than I had anticipated. We had the grave side service with just our family members before Dad's memorial service at our church. Our local chapter of the WWII Last Mans Club was present and provided a 21 gun salute with Taps. Actually turned in to a 22 gun salute due to a misfire. Our minister explained at the service that only Tom Taylor would have gotten a 22 gun salute. It was such a peaceful time during taps. Beforehand I had dreaded this portion of the service due to I knew most of us would just lose it. But we all held tight and instead of being a very sad time, it was a very joyous proud time. At Dad's memorial service, my brother in law spoke and shared stories from the past. I have never been to a service where so much laughter came from the folks in attendance. It was a happy time. Much different than you expect at most services. Instead of tears of sadness, we had tears of joy. It truly was a celebration of my fathers life. A couple stories I will share that was told was when I was very little. During the summer months after our family moved south, we vacationed back in Cape Cod most of the time. On the way back south one summer Mom, Dad and all 5 kids stopped in Langley Va to see a couple who were friends of my parents during the war. When we got to their house, we found they were all away, nobody home. So Mom and Dad, walked in their home, which most folks left their homes unlocked back then. We went in raided the fridge, sat around and waited for them to return. Dad almost took a shower. We all rested up and their friends never returned. After a while Mom told Dad that the dirty dishes in the sink did not look familiar. They then started looking at the pics on the wall and was like, who are those folks. So we all loaded up and got back on the road home. Later to find out, that Mom and Dad's friends had sold their house and moved to Texas the month before. So we got out of there before the three bears returned. Another story was from some good friends in Albemarle NC. Their kids told us Dad would stop by their house when he was on the road. Many times, their parents would not be home and Dad would stop by, walk right in, fix a drink, sing and play the piano, then get in the car and leave. Their kids always enjoyed the music while he was there. My father was a geographical genius. He could tell you about every major city in the world. He new the street names, restaurants. He could tell you when he visited, where he ate, and what he did with pin point accuracy. He visited Hong Kong quite a bit over the years. He new many people there and often gave them directions around Hong Kong to places, restaurants etc they did not know even existed. He was an habitual reader. He subscribed to many newspapers and magazines from around the world. Our home was like a library. We were fortunate to have 3 homes, One here in Belmont NC on the river, one on Oak Island NC and Cape Cod Mass. All the homes were loaded with reading materials. You could grab any magazine, pick a story, read it, go home and quiz my Dad on that story. He could remember in detail the story. He would correct you if you were wrong with any of the facts. He had an amazing photographic memory. Even up to the end of his life his mind was sharp as a tac. It was just his body that was worn out. He never gave up. Many times he would enter the hospital due to sickness, and he would bounce back strong and be out in a few days. We knew soon, he would not make it out. This past week was his last visit to the hospital. It was a very tough time for all of us. We were so fortunate to be by his side. The Doctor's eventually gave him a breathing and feeding tube, which we knew he didn't want. He looked so uncomfortable. After a day or so we could tell that he was trying to tell us it was time. He wanted those pulled out. That was a tough decision. We finally decided after much discussion with his doctors that he was not going to improve this time. We removed the tubes, and wow, his vital signs improved greatly. He looked so comfortable. We thought, you know, he may be right back at the dining room table reading in a couple days. We surrounded him at the hospital. He just wouldn't let go. He really made us all laugh, when it was a hard time to laugh, when at one point, he threw back the blankets like he was getting the hell out of there. We laughed and said, sorry pop, you got to stay here. With such a big family, they moved dad to another floor with a bigger room. We all got there, sat with him til midnight. My sister stayed with him. Around 1:30am we got the call that he had passed. The doctors really made him comfortable. Though it was so sad, it was a big relief or joyous time that Dad was not suffering anymore. That really made it all right. The Emotional Wave would roll through and knock us all down from time to time. After it hit you, you got up and everything was Ok. We shared a lot of tears and shared a lot of smiles. At Dad's viewing and service we saw many old friends, received many many well wishes, prayers, and condolences. I never dreamed that this would help so much. Many of you posted on my Dad's online guest book. My mother and other family members asked who are some of those folks. I explained that those are members of our other family. Our family thanks you for all the kind words, well wishes in all your posts. They didn't realize how close we all were on this site. You all really made a great impression on my family. A couple of times at the viewing Susan mentioned to me that every once in a while out of the corner of her eye she could see my father flash a smile. Goosebumps covered me, because I had saw the same thing. Dad would flash us a smile to let us know that everything is OK. Thanks Dad for what you provided for us. You surely will be missed. Love ya Man!!!!