Memories Of Loved Ones Who have Passed Away.

[Signals]

This thread is a tribute to our loved ones who have passed away.

If it's not to painful I would like you to post Photographs, video's, music, letters, recollections and feelings of cherished loved ones who have left you.

I will start with one. There is more than one for me, but it's a start.

---

Scott David Massey was my best friend in high school. Scott is one of three people I consider my "best friend" in my forty four years. His family was wealthy, my family was kinda poor. We became best friends instantly after enrolling in a private school called: Walden Preparatory School on Monfort Drive in Addison ,Tx.

It was 1978, and my parents were struggling in real estate while his family was prospering financially in oil. I felt priviledged that a kid in a well to do family would hang out with me. I soon became well aquainted with his parents and brothers and sisters. They were all so unique and caring, allowing me to treat their home as my own. The Massey family was so good to me over the years.

Scott's little brothers and sisters grew up from being brats, to becoming parents in their own right. It was so neat to watch life develop. Then one day I recieved a phone call from Scott from Baylor Hospital in Dallas.

Scott told me He was dying.

I had not seen or spoken to Scott in more than 10 years, I left right then and headed to Baylor Hospital.

I arrived at Baylor only to find my best friend doped on morphine. We talked about our lives. I knew in my heart this was good bye. I went and got another one of Scotts best friends and went back to Baylor. We talked about the good times and took photos.

If Scott were able to speak from Heaven he would say: I'm shocked at how much my family has impacted your life.

I hate loosing people!

The following is one of our favorite songs from years gone by.

Ultravox

I have sustained an injury with Scott's departure.

R.I.P. Scott David Massey

It's taken me 20 years...

...my wife and I have come to terms.

 

[FloridaRob]

My Dad was the kindest man I ever knew. I never heard him get in an argument, he was patient, slow to anger, and never met a stranger. In the house I grew up, I never heard my parents argue, my dad never missed a day of work no matter how bad he felt. I can remember him going out the door late at night with pneumoina for shift work at the refinery.

IN the early 80s, I got one of the first satellite dishes so I could watch my beloved Packers. Dad was a Cowboy fan but he still would come to my house and watch the game with me. He especially loved the games during that time because the dish did not break away for commericials and you could hear the announcers bantering about during those breaks. A lot of times they were funny. He especially loved Monday Night Football when Don Meridith and Howard Cosell would get into arguments during commercials.

IN the spring of 1987, I left Sw Louisiana for Central Florida. Being a full blooded Cajun, I knew I was going to miss family, friends and home. About a month after I got to Florida, my Dad collapsed at work, was taken by ambulance to the hospital and a diagnoisis said he had asbestosis and the prognosis was not good. They said his lungs were badly blocked. He didn't have a lot of time.

That summer he and my mom came down to Florida and we took them to EPcot. My Dad was proud and never ever complained but after walking into the theme park, it was evident he was not going to be able to walk. I made him get in a wheel chair and pushed him around the park that day.

IN September that year, I got a call from my brothers that Dad was put into the hospital again and was on a ventilator because he could not breathe on his own. It didnt look good and I should make arrangements to go home.

I sheduled a flight to Lake Charles, La the next day which was a Sunday.. I flew into the airport and was picked up by my brother who took me directly to the hospital. When I walked into ICU, my Dad had his ventilator on so he couldn't talk but I noticed he was watching a football game on TV and the Packers were playing.

His eyes lit up when he saw me walk into the room and I looked at him and asked, "Who's winning?: He couldn't talk but he pointed his finger at me meaning "your team----the Packers were winning". I spent that Sunday afternoon watching the last football game with my Dad. He died two days later.

I still miss him 20 yrs later. He died at 63, way too young and missing out on retirement, watching his grandkids, and enjoying the thing that he loved most---- Life!

 

[Cajuncowboy]

What a great idea for a thread. I'm sure this will be a great way for some of us to really put in words the impact of certain people on our life and I will contribute as well....

Like ForidaRob the one person who has impacted me the most was my Dad. He was born in the early 20's and only got through 3rd grade before he had to go find work to help the family. His dad had been killed when he was 5 when he was working on the railroad. He was the oldest of 3 kids but then my grandma got remarried and had 3 more kids. My dad enlisted in the Army when the "Big One" broke out and he went to Iber Oberstein Germany as well as Italy and France. He was shot at by snipers at the end of the war in Itally and he was also part of the Dachau liberation. His storied from that time were chilling when he discussed them but it was rare when he did.

He met my mom in Alexandria LA and they got married just before he shipped out overseas.

He was the hardest worker I have ever seen in my life. The man had no slow down gear at all. He worked first in a feed mill loading large sacks of grain onto boxcars for 15 years before going to work and retiring as a shipping manager at a textile plant.

My mom and dad separated when I was around 3 years old and I spent every weekend with my Dad. When I got older and started to play football, Dad was there every game he could.

My Dad did have one fault and that was drinking. Those weekends I spent with him were mainly in bar rooms and I mean till all hours of the night. I would fall asleep in a booth.

I would not do that to my kids but I will say that that experience taught me many valuable lessons early on so I didn't have to make those mistakes myself. (Some I did though).

Through all of this however my Dad was my best friend, even through school. I had lots of friends in school but it wasn't the same. After a while Dad didn't drink anymore we became even closer as we would watch football (even though he wasn't a fan).

Dad was someone who I could talk to about anything. He was my confidant, my financial adviser my overall go to guy.

The day he got sick with lung cancer he called and asked me to come up to his house to talk. I said I was a bit busy and asked him if we could discuss it on the phone whatever it was. He said no but when I got the chance to stop by he needed to talk. It took me a week to get up there to see him. When I did he told me what the doctors said and that he only had 6 months to live.

It was like a kick in the stomach to me. Seemed unreal. A world without my Dad in it? Impossible! But it seemed true. That in 6 months he would be gone.

My wife was pregnant with our first daughter at the time. She was born 3 months later and dad was as proud as any man on the planet at his new grand daughter. We brought her up to the house every day to see him.

The thing I am most grateful for is that Dad never seemed to be in pain, though I'm sure he was but he never complained.

The day before he passed away a friend of my dad's whom he hadn't talked to for over ten years called to say hi. He didn't even know dad was sick. When dad told him what the doctors said his friend came up that day. They talked for well over 5 hours. Turns out this man was a Christian and asked dad if he knew Christ. That day my dad got born again.

My mom was staying at the house to take care of my dad by this time and she called me that night that dad wasn't doing so well. When I got there he was kinda in a daze. The docs said he wasn't getting enough oxygen and that was causing it. They took him out to the hospital where he passed away that next morning.

I miss being able to call him and talk. I miss being able to watch him hold kaitlyn and saying "You're poppops little girl". I just miss him terribly.

I have one regret that I lost a week with my dad because I was so busy with "other stuff" before he could tell me this news. Oh by the way, Dad didn't make 6 months. He only got 4.

BUt I know we will make up for it when we get together again.

Starkist, thanks for making this thread. If no one reads this it was good for me anyway to write it. It may be long but it made me feel a bit closer to my dad today. Thanks.

 

[FloridaRob]

What a great idea for a thread. I'm sure this will be a great way for some of us to really put in words the impact of certain people on our life and I will contribute as well....

Like ForidaRob the one person who has impacted me the most was my Dad. He was born in the early 20's and only got through 3rd grade before he had to go find work to help the family. His dad had been killed when he was 5 when he was working on the railroad. He was the oldest of 3 kids but then my grandma got remarried and had 3 more kids. My dad enlisted in the Army when the "Big One" broke out and he went to Iber Oberstein Germany as well as Italy and France. He was shot at by snipers at the end of the war in Itally and he was also part of the Dachau liberation. His storied from that time were chilling when he discussed them but it was rare when he did.

He met my mom in Alexandria LA and they got married just before he shipped out overseas.

He was the hardest worker I have ever seen in my life. The man had no slow down gear at all. He worked first in a feed mill loading large sacks of grain onto boxcars for 15 years before going to work and retiring as a shipping manager at a textile plant.

My mom and dad separated when I was around 3 years old and I spent every weekend with my Dad. When I got older and started to play football, Dad was there every game he could.

My Dad did have one fault and that was drinking. Those weekends I spent with him were mainly in bar rooms and I mean till all hours of the night. I would fall asleep in a booth.

I would not do that to my kids but I will say that that experience taught me many valuable lessons early on so I didn't have to make those mistakes myself. (Some I did though).

Through all of this however my Dad was my best friend, even through school. I had lots of friends in school but it wasn't the same. After a while Dad didn't drink anymore we became even closer as we would watch football (even though he wasn't a fan).

Dad was someone who I could talk to about anything. He was my confidant, my financial adviser my overall go to guy.

The day he got sick with lung cancer he called and asked me to come up to his house to talk. I said I was a bit busy and asked him if we could discuss it on the phone whatever it was. He said no but when I got the chance to stop by he needed to talk. It took me a week to get up there to see him. When I did he told me what the doctors said and that he only had 6 months to live.

It was like a kick in the stomach to me. Seemed unreal. A world without my Dad in it? Impossible! But it seemed true. That in 6 months he would be gone.

My wife was pregnant with our first daughter at the time. She was born 3 months later and dad was as proud as any man on the planet at his new grand daughter. We brought her up to the house every day to see him.

The thing I am most grateful for is that Dad never seemed to be in pain, though I'm sure he was but he never complained.

The day before he passed away a friend of my dad's whom he hadn't talked to for over ten years called to say hi. He didn't even know dad was sick. When dad told him what the doctors said his friend came up that day. They talked for well over 5 hours. Turns out this man was a Christian and asked dad if he knew Christ. That day my dad got born again.

My mom was staying at the house to take care of my dad by this time and she called me that night that dad wasn't doing so well. When I got there he was kinda in a daze. The docs said he wasn't getting enough oxygen and that was causing it. They took him out to the hospital where he passed away that next morning.

I miss being able to call him and talk. I miss being able to watch him hold kaitlyn and saying "You're poppops little girl". I just miss him terribly.

I have one regret that I lost a week with my dad because I was so busy with "other stuff" before he could tell me this news. Oh by the way, Dad didn't make 6 months. He only got 4.

BUt I know we will make up for it when we get together again.

Starkist, thanks for making this thread. If no one reads this it was good for me anyway to write it. It may be long but it made me feel a bit closer to my dad today. Thanks.

cajun, we may be kin. My dad was born in 1925 and raised about 20 minutes from Alexandria in Cheneyville La. Other similaries between us, my grandaughters name is Caitlyn and she calls me Boppop. I wanted Poppop but the grandkids are the ones that make those names stick.

Nice story, thanks for sharing.....

 

[Cajuncowboy]

cajun, we may be kin. My dad was born in 1925 and raised about 20 minutes from Alexandria in Cheneyville La. Other similaries between us, my grandaughters name is Caitlyn and she calls me Boppop. I wanted Poppop but the grandkids are the ones that make those names stick.

Nice story, thanks for sharing.....

It wouldn't surprise me if we were kin. You know how Cajun's are...

Funny though the similarities.

 

[Meat-O-Rama]

My best friend from childhood was killed by a drunk driver nearly two years ago. Football season and the draft are not nearly the same without him...