Just Tuesday?

Today is not just any normal Tuesday.  It’s not just a normal September 28^th.  Today is my Honey’s 59^th birthday.  At least it would have been.  This has always been a special day in our family and even death hasn’t changed that. We may not be celebrating, but we are remembering and there are many things to remember – most of them bring a smile to my face!

I’m not sure what it’s like in your family, but in ours, when dad had a quirk or did something funny, it was always heartily laughed at, exaggerated and brought up often!  For some reason it’s always fun to pick on the dad!  We actually still laugh at him today; it’s to bad he’s not here to torment with the joke.  But that doesn’t stop us.

We remember his driving.  You didn’t want to tell Eric you just passed the exit because before you realized what was happening, you had taken the exit and were wondering, as you tried to loosen your death grip on the door handle, how in the world he did that.  We remember that he would look straight at something and still not be able to find it.  He always had to have a shower and cup of coffee on Christmas morning before any festivities could begin. His hair was (almost) always in place – except for the time he practically burned it off his head trying to hide some of the gray!  He would bump into something and say, “Who put that there?” even though it had been in that particular place for months.  He was sometimes a little behind on current day terminology and we remember laughing hysterically when he called his flip-flops his thongs!!!  He explained his constant loss at video games by claiming the boys didn’t tell him all the moves just so he couldn’t beat them.  Eric’s laugh was hearty and we heartily enjoyed laughing with – and at – him a lot!

When he lost his hair during the first chemo treatments, he put on a bandana and a fake earring and stuck a squirrel tail out the back of the bandana making it look like a pony tail giving himself the appearance of a (semi) rough-neck biker.  He secretly dressed up as a pirate when the kids were little and gave them a memorable show.  He put a swing in our big tree and built an impressive tree house that our kids and their friends enjoyed for many years.  He pitched baseball for hours, played sock basketball more nights than I can count and made the game of “Big, Bad Wolf” the best part of Tuesday nights.  ‘Billie and Willie’ stories were dad’s creation and a delight to our kids.  He tossed each of them high in the air in the swimming pool over and over again and taught them to ride bikes and shoot a gun.

He was also a marvelous example of living a life consecrated to God. We always knew his day had not begun without prayer and scripture.  His answers to questions always pointed to Godly principles and he was truly a man after God’s own heart.  No argument, discussion or topic was ever addressed without finding out what God had said in His Word.  That was Eric; a wise man who knew it was more important to follow and please God than be popular.

I wish I could have seen his face the moment he realized He was in heaven.  I wish I could talk to him and hear the excitement in his voice.  I wish I could hear his laugh as he described all the things he was sure about that aren’t so after all because I know he’d be the first to laugh at that!  I wish…..

No, this isn’t just any ordinary Tuesday.  Happy Birthday to Handsome – a very extraordinary guy!  I miss you so.

Whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men,knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ.  Colossians 3:23-24