First, Uncle Wayne. Uncle Wayne passed away very unexpectedly after a surgery. I don't recall now what the details were but needless to say I was shocked. I didn't know Uncle Wayne extremely well, in fact I hardly knew him at all. What I did know was his wife and five children loved him immensely and his passing would leave a hole in their lives as well as his grandchildren's lives.
I have to mention this because I was so touched by it. When I went to his funeral and expressed sorrow at his passing, my Aunt Jane said, Don't be sorry. Him and Frog are up in heaven having a party. Besides, we found out he had cancer, now he doesn't have to suffer with it.
Mind you, I don't really know Aunt Jane well either. However, when my father passed away she was (quite unexpectedly to me) a great source of strength and support to us. Then, as I watched her and her children at Uncle Wayne's funeral, one thought kept coming to me "Aunt Jane is an amazing woman!" It seemed only reasonable to me then to assume that Uncle Wayne must have been an amazing man. I regret that I won't have the chance to know him.
This photo was taken July 4, 1998. Our family picnic was rained out - again! This wonderful man was my father-in-law. I remember well the day we brought our youngest home from the hospital. Dad called. To say congrats and to tell us that he had been diagnosed with a type melanoma. That was August 17, 1998. Dad passed away earlier this year but in the mean time he had put up a hell of fight! But, that was typical John Doner for you.
We love and miss you very much Poppadaddy. Rest easy.
Cousin Walter Till and his family
My husband's cousin passed away very suddenly. As I understand it he had been involved in a car accident a short time prior to his passing. During the accident his heart had been damaged but it was not discovered until after his death. I don't know exactly when this photo was taken. Walt sent it to me sometime within the past 18 months.
I first met Wallie back in 1988 when he was home on leave from the Marines. John and I had been married less than a year at the time and lived about 4 houses up the street from Wallie's mom, Aunt Doris. Or Dorrie as we affectionately call her. I probably shouldn't admit this but........ I have always been mechanically inclined. So, Dorrie was quite often looking for me to do little odd jobs for her, like putting new line in the weed eater. She had a tendancy to put it in backwards :-) Anyway.... this is what led to my first encounter with Wallie. One afternoon on the walk home from work I stopped by to see if there was anything Dorrie needed that day. Well, yes, but Walt was taking care of it. 'It' I soon discovered was at least a three person project!
As I turned the corner to the back yard I see Wallie and my hubby, John, assembling a small metal shed. Now normally this wouldn't have been a problem but, my hubby is visually impaired and his job was to hold the nut on the bolt on the inside of the building while Wallie fasted it tight on the outside. Problem - finding the bolt that was sticking through the shed. So, after I arrived they gave me the job of holding the nut and John was to pass the bolts and such to Wallie - so we could go faster. Yeah right! We may well have done too if Wallie had moved along in order. No! He decided to make a game of it. First he would send a bolt through at the top right, then maybe one in the middle or over on the bottom. Then we all started cracking jokes and just tearing up in general. So, needless to say we didn't go any faster. It was a great day!
[P.S. The following summer the shed blew away in a tornado. You see when the guys started the assembly of the shed they decided the anchor screws wouldn't be needed ;-) ]
Goodbye Wallie. You are loved and missed.
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