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  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Ours was good. It was filled with many emotions both happy and sad.

  We went to Tennessee for Thanksgiving. My uncle Danny had been sick for almost a year. Last Christmas he had a massive heart attack and nearly died then. He managed to regain enough strength to pull through. He got to spend the last several months at home, but the difficulties of bad health and a weakened body finally got the best of him. He returned back to St. Thomas Hospital a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving in hopes of getting   fluid off and returning home in time for the Holidays. As the days passed his health just kept getting worse and worse.We arrived in Tennessee early Tuesday morning and by Wednesday the Dr's had informed the family that there just wasn't any hope of Danny getting better this time. His heart was too weak and his body had been put through too much stress for too long. On Wednesday evening at 6:15, my Uncle Danny passed away with his loving wife, two daughters, family and friends by his side. It was extremely sad, but I am relieved that he is no longer in pain and I am also thankful that I got to be there with my family.

     The next day was Thanksgiving and we went on with our traditional Thanksgiving festivities. On Friday we spent most of the day at the funeral home visiting with lots, and lots of people! Danny was a police officer for 35 years, and also held other various positions in the town so everyone knew him. He was also the type of man that NEVER met a stranger and if you ran into him he was going to talk to you no matter what. He loved to joke around and he had a nickname for nearly everyone. He had a loud personality and he made it a point that you knew what he thought about things. (whether you wanted his opinion or not :) Kids loved him because he was always picking on them and making them laugh. He loved Christmas and played Santa Claus for many years in the Christmas parade in Centerville. It's going to be very weird not having him around, especially at Christmas.

   It's funny when people pass away you almost immediately start remembering things about them that you haven't thought about for years. I remember going to the park as a little girl for family picnics and what not, and we would always get him to push us on the swing because he would get us really, really high. I also remember his singing voice in church. He had a really good bass voice and he loved singing gospel music. He had like a hundred antenna's on his patrol car and he loved to talk on his walkie talkie. :) Most recently I remember that no matter how miserable I know he had to be, and how hard everyday had gotten, he never seemed to complain when we would go visit. I heard several people mention this at the funeral. I'm sure there were dark moments...there had to be...but every time I was home and we went to visit he would just pick on Scout and talk to us about whatever show he had been watching that day. Scout and I went to visit him and my Aunt Sherry in October and I am so glad we did. Scout gave him a hug before we left and I think it totally made his day.

   His funeral service was so nice! Exactly what he would have wanted I think. There were 40 or so uniformed police officers there  and a beautiful bagpipe player. Bill McDonald, Brian McAlister, Sheriff Ward, and Dr. Nash all did a wonderful job speaking. They all had some funny stories to tell. One of the stories that was told I will remember forever and it's a story I had heard for the very first time. Danny used to lead funeral processions in his patrol car on a pretty regular basis. This is something he liked to do and he took that job very seriously. I believe it was Bill Mac that told this story and I am so glad he did. He talked about how Danny would lead the funeral cars and at some point when they were nearing the cemetery he would take off, speeding ahead and widening the gap between him and the rest of the cars. As everyone else arrived at the cemetery you would always find Danny's patrol car blocking the highway in front of the entrance and Danny standing by his car...feet together...one arm behind his back...and the other holding his hat over his heart. One funeral in particular Bill remembered was that of a man who had died and there was only his wife and children and maybe a few other people at the service. As they were driving to the cemetery it began to pour down rain. The kind of rain where you can't see 5 feet in front of you. He said, as always, they neared the top of the hill to the cemetery and there at the entrance was Danny..feet together..one arm behind his back..hat over heart...drenched in cold rain. When the wife and her children sat down under the tent for the burial, Bill overheard her turn around and say to her kids "See...I told you, your dad was  important..did you see that man? He knew how important your dad was."

  I will never forget that vision I have of him standing there in the rain for as long as I live.

There was also an old local man that everyone in town knows..a very sweet man. He is nearly blind, and very poor. Danny looked after him a lot and always took him food on Thanksgiving. He  stayed at the funeral home almost all day on Friday, standing quietly near the family, and was at the funeral the next day. My Mom said to him,  "Danny looked after you didn't he?" and he would just say very quietly, "finest man I ever did know".

   I guess I mention all this because, you never really know how someone touches another life in ways that you never noticed or realized. You just never know.  My cousin Holly (Danny's oldest daughter) read aloud a poem at the funeral. How she did it...I will never know...but she did a wonderful job. It wasn't just any old poem either. It was Uncle Danny's favorite poem and he had every word of it memorized. It's beautiful. The Touch of the Master's Hand.

      His burial at the cemetery ended with one of the officer's voice over the loud speaker..." 702...10-7 " . That was his dispatch number and a perfect way to say goodbye. Very Danny. :) Please remember Sherry, Holly,Jeff, Kari,  Eric, and the rest of my family  in your prayers during this difficult time. It's never easy to say goodbye to a loved one no matter what. Rest in Peace Uncle Danny.

The Touch of the Master's Hand

'Twas battered and scarred,
And the auctioneer thought it
hardly worth his while
To waste his time on the old violin,
but he held it up with a smile.
"What am I bid, good people", he cried,
"Who starts the bidding for me?"
"One dollar, one dollar, Do I hear two?"
"Two dollars, who makes it three?"
"Three dollars once, three dollars twice, going for three,"
But, No,
From the room far back a gray bearded man
Came forward and picked up the bow,
Then wiping the dust from the old violin
And tightening up the strings,
He played a melody, pure and sweet
As sweet as the angel sings.
The music ceased and the auctioneer
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said "What now am I bid for this old violin?"
As he held it aloft with its' bow.
"One thousand, one thousand, Do I hear two?"
"Two thousand, Who makes it three?"
"Three thousand once, three thousand twice,
Going and gone", said he.
The audience cheered,
But some of them cried,
"We just don't understand."
"What changed its' worth?"
Swift came the reply.
"The Touch of the Masters Hand."
And many a man with life out of tune
All battered with bourbon and gin
Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd
Much like that old violin
A mess of pottage, a glass of wine,
A game and he travels on.
He is going once, he is going twice,
He is going and almost gone.
But the Master comes,
And the foolish crowd never can quite understand,
The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought
By the Touch of the Masters' Hand.


Myra Brooks Welch

    

I have more to blog about and also more pictures that I will add later this weekend,  but I wanted to dedicate this blog to Uncle Danny. So until next time...goodnight!