The Loss of a Friend

We lost our faithful friend Bud recently. He was a gentle friend to our grandkids. He understood how important they were to us and made sure that they were well taken care of while he was in charge.

 

Dakota on one of her first rides with Bud.

 



 All horses deserve, at least once in their lives, to be loved by a little girl.

He got all the love he needed from Hailey and Dakota.

Nathan and his Papa

Austin on his first ride.

 

We'll miss that old horse.

 

 

 

The Older The Fiddler, The Sweeter The Tune!



On his birthday, my Dad told me that he has lived about 20 years longer than he thought he would, so I let him know that's cause for celebration.

 

A simple gathering of family and friends to reminisce and eat cake.

And of course there was lots of cake:

Those kids were anxious to get one of their Grandpa's horses off that cake.

Anyone who knows him also knows he supports our 2nd Amendment. He received a brand new rifle with an engraved message from his son, Chuck. It was fun to see a man his age act like he just received his first Red Ryder BB Gun. Be careful not to shoot your eye out.

Thanks Jerry for fixing our air conditioner right before the party so we could have a cool ride over.

It's hard for me to believe some of the things my Dad has seen in his lifetime.

A childhood during The Great Depression - that had to have sucked.
World War II - and the loss of a brother.
The Korean War - where he was just a young kid in the Navy.

The Cuban Missile Crisis - where we had drills to learn to hide under our desks at school

The Moon Landing - just to verify it wasn't made of cheese

Ball point pens, Teflon, and Velcro - where would we be without these?

Microwaves, video games, iphones, computers, DNA mapping and of course Viagra - some don't want to think where we would be without some of these.

Pop top cans, the first color tv, flat screen television, HDTV, and Global Warming - and then there was cable and satellite.

Fast food, pizza delivery, America's obsession with eating out at restaurants, and using fuel injected cars to get there - Henry Ford would have been surprised too.

 

Grandchildren:

Four Generations

 

Great-Grandchildren:

 

 



 

 

 

 

And the joy of family and friendship:

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's just to name a few of the things he has seen.

 

 

Happy Birthday Dad! Keep on Keepin' On.

 

His advice to me about life:

 

Enjoy the Good Stuff!