Saying Goodbye . . .

It's hard to believe it's already been six months since we lost Joe's Dad to cancer that cold day in November, it seems like it was just yesterday. The one thing he was so adamant about was where his final resting place would be. "He didn't want to be left in Iowa and he sure wasn't going to be taken down to Texas". He didn't want much of a fuss with a whole bunch of people who barely knew him. This was his wish . . . just family, nothing fancy! Joe Sr. was a Union Lineman for over 40 years, it was his life! This is where he wanted to be laid to rest! He could drive around anywhere in the Northwest and remember when the last time he worked on that set of power lines. This set of towers is close to where Joe Sr., Joe and Steve (Joe's younger brother) spent a lot of time when they were kids riding motorcycles, fishing and just doing guy stuff.

Steve read this prayer that their Mom brought . . . God saw he was getting tired and a cure was not to be, so he put his arms around him and whispered "come with me". With tearful eyes we watched him suffer and saw him fade away, although we loved him dearly we could not make him stay. A golden heart stopped beating, hard working hands to rest, God broke our hearts to prove to us he only takes the best.

Joe wrote this which I added to the back of his Mom's Mother's Day gift . . . Dad was always a peace keeper, he would do anything possible to keep everyone he was close to happy. He would never tell you what you were doing wrong, but was always understanding when you told him how you felt. Dad was never the Dad to say "I Love You", but you always knew he did. Dad worked hard the last year he was with us to hide the pain he was going through, he didn't want us to worry about him, again he was more concerned about his loved ones than himself. I believe that Dad had one last wish before he was taken away from us so suddenly that day in November, he held on as long as he needed for all of us to be with him to say goodbye.