FAMILY
Dedicated To Aunt Dixie And Uncle Chuck
God's Angels Smiled Upon Us Today
May We Never Be Separated Again!!
IN MEMORY OF
Naomi--Rick's Mom
Opal--Dixie's Mom
Janie--Bobbie's Gramma
We Will Always Love You
Rick, Bobbie And Rasky
FAMILY
(F)ather (A)nd (M)other (I) (L)ove (Y)ou
When Rick's Mother Passed Away December 12th 1996
He Thought That Was The Last Of His Family
Then In Late September 2000
He Recieved An E-Mail From Someone With A Screen Name Of Flory
He Stared At It For A Few Seconds
He Wondered Why It Looked So Familiar
Rick And I Finally Opened It
We Were Surprised And Amazed
It Was From His Aunt Dixie And Uncle Chuck
He Had Not Heard From Them Or Talked To Them In 26 Years
This E-Mail Brought Back A Flood Of Memories For Rick
As A Child He Was Bounced Around From Foster Home To Foster
Home
He Never Felt Like He Really Belonged To Anyone
For Two Years He Lived On Farms With His Aunt
Uncle
Cousins
Sister
And Grandmother
Those Were The Two Happiest Years Of His Life
It Was Back In The Days When He Used To Smile
He Still Remembers The Cold Winter Days When He Didn't Want To Go
Downstairs
He Didn't Want To Go Outside To The Outhouse
So He Peed Out The Window On The Second Floor Of The Old Farmhouse
What He Didn't Know Was
That His Aunt Dixie Was Standing In The Downstairs Front Room
She Was Drinking Coffee And Looking Out The Window
She Saw Something Wet Coming From A Dry Cold Winter Sky
It Was Splashing On The Outside Of The Window
She Wasn't To Happy When She Realized What It Was
She Called Him Downstairs And Chewed His Butt Out
But She Did Chuckle At What He Did
The Memories That He Thought Of Are These
One Plum Growing On An Old Plum Tree Until It Was Ripe Enough For Only Him To Eat
Watching Aunt Dixie Putting Vinegar And Water In Cousin Kathy's Baby Bottle
She Was Trying To Wean Her From It
Chickens Pecking At His Toes The First Time That He Tried To Feed Them
His First Baseball, Bat, Glove And Cap
The Wonderful Smells Of Bacon And Eggs Frying On An Old Pot Belly Stove
Seeing Puppies And Kittens Born For The First Time
His Cousin Kathy Eating About 6 Bananas When She Was Three Years Old
Watching Grandma Making A Mess Throwing Flour All Over The Kitchen
But Baking Incredible Cakes, Pies And Cookies
His First Bicycle For Christmas That His Uncle Chuck Rebuilt For Him
The First Time That He Fell Riding That Bike On A Patch Of Ice
This Was After Being Told By His Aunt Not To Ride It On The Ice
He Has Always Been Hard Headed And Would Always Do It His Way
Christmas And The Beautiful Trees They Always Put Up
Especially With The Old Time Bubbling Lights
That Stupid Rooster Who Crowed Every Sunrise
Playing Catch With His Uncle, Who Threw The Ball To Hard
Getting Up Early And Making A Peanut Butter Sandwhich With Home Made Jam
Grabbing His Fishing Pole, Jumping On A Bicycle And Going To The River To Fish
Seeing The Rain Coming Across The Horizon Towards Him
Sleeping Under Three Blankets On A Cold Winter's Night
The Unspoiled Beauty Of A Fresh Snowfall With No Foot Prints
Building His First Snowman Family
The First Time That He Saw Yellow Snow
And Didn't Know What It Was
Uncle Chuck's Butt Whippings When He Deserved Them
Ouch!!!
Aunt Dixie's Tupperware Parties
Aunt Dixie And Uncle Chuck's Card Parties
Going Hunting With Uncle Chuck With A Toy Rifle
Getting Caught Smoking A Cigar
Sneaking Little Two Packs Of Gum And Getting Caught
Chesterfield Smith A Tennesse Walking Horse
The Biggest Horse That He Had Ever Seen
Pansy
The Little Pinto
Black And White Horse
The Catfish That Uncle Chuck Put Into The Horse Watering Trough
Gooseberries, Rutabagas, And Vegetables, Fresh From The Garden
That He Helped To Grow
Fresh Peppermint Hand Cranked Ice Cream
Cold
Juicy Watermelon On A Hot Summer's Day
Getting Rammed By The Family Billie Goat When I Forgot And Bent Over
Sundays, When The Family Piled Into The Car And Went To Church
His First Drive In Movie When He Fell Asleep
Coming Home And His Uncle Chuck Carrying Him Into The House
Being Surrounded By Cats
Dogs
Horses
Chickens
And All Kinds Of Animals
Having His Own Dog To Play With
Feeling The Warmth And Love Of Family For The First Time In His Life
Ricks Biggest Dream Has Been To Live In The Country And Be Close To Family
God Willing And The Creek Doesn't Rise His Dream Will Come True Soon
We All Want To See That Smile That He Had When He Was A Kid
When He Lived On The Farm With His Aunt Dixie And Uncle Chuck
NOTE
Rick's Dream Finally Came True On August 10Th 2001
He Bought A House In Indiana On 1/2 An Acre And Moved All Of Us There
Me (Bobbie), Rasky, Nickie, Lady2 And Misty
All Of Our Dreams Came True
We Now Live In The Country
Now He Is Surrounded By Family And Is Making New Memories
To Go Along With All Of His Old Ones
His Smile Has Finally Returned
May All Of Your Dreams Come True
Bobbie, Rick And Rasky
The Following Is Something That His Aunt Dixie Wrote To Him
This After He Sent Her A Poem That He Had Written For Bobbie
Her Words Touched His Heart
Dear Rick
Thanks For Sharing The Poetry
It's Very Deep But Very, Very Beautiful
I'm Sure Bobbie Is Honored To See What You Have Written For Her
Its Full Of Love And Your Pain And That's Special
Very Special
It Is Really Good
But Someday In The Future I Know That I Will See You Write A Poem
A Poem Where You Will Smile Through The Words!
No Matter How Hard You Try To Hide It
You Will Smile
I Want So Much For You To Be Happy On The Inside Again
Just You Wait Until Our Lives Move Forward And We Are All Closer Together
You And I Will Hatch Some Baby Chicks For Your Place
When You See That Happening You Will Smile Again
I'll Find An Old Barn And Send You For Wood
And Then You Will Smile
We'll Send Chuck And Bobbie To Butcher
Chickens
You And I Will Go To The Store And Buy Ready Made Ones For Us
And Then
"WE WILL SMILE"
You And Bobbie Can Hang An Old Porch Swing In A Tree
Swing, Smooch, Hug, Hold Hands
And Then You Will Smile
Uncle Chuck And You Can Go Fishing And He Will Grill You Some Fish
And Then You Will Smile
I Will Even Let You Pee Out The Upstairs Window In The Winter
Just One More Time
And Then You Will Smile
You Can Grow Lilac Bushes 100 Feet High
And Then You Will Smile
We Will All Go Into The Kitchen And Make Oatmeal Cookies By The Dozens
We Can Throw Flour Everywhere In Honor Of Grandma's Baking Days
And Then You Will Smile
You And Bobbie Can Plant Lots Of Roses And A Beautiful Garden
And Then You Will Smile
Little Bit By Little Bit As We All Make These New Memories Together
They Will Push Away Some Of The Old Memories, Hurt And Pain
And Then Rick
You Can Smile
I Love You Rick, Bobbie And Rasky
Love And Hugs
Aunt Dixie Flory
Aunt Dixie Here's That Smile
That Rick Owes You!!
Once A Little Boy
Many Years Ago A Little Boy Came Into My Life
A Beautiful, Blonde Haired, Green Eyed, Sweet Little Guy
Full Of Love To Give And Always A Bright Smile
Eyes Twinkling Bright
He Stayed For Awhile
He Was Like My Baby Brother
Something That I Never Had
Mischievous, Sweet, Cute And Full Of Life
My Heart And Soul Was So Glad
Then One Day He Went Away
Because Of Others, He Could Not Stay
My Heart Was So Lonely And So Full Of Bitter Tears
I Was Again A Lonely Teenager For Many More Years
The Years Went By And We Both Grew
Finally I Married And With A House Of Our Own
I Begged For The Blonde Haired Boy To Again Come Home
Finally My Prayers Were Answered And For Awhile
He Came Back And With Us Lived
Older, Still Beautiful And With So Much Love To Give
He Was There For Two Years And Then Things Changed
And Then Sadly He Was Gone Once More
More Years Passed
My Heart Still Aching
For He Was Lost To Me Forever It Seemed
Then One Beautiful, Bright Day
A Knock Came On The Door
Once Again He Was Standing Before Me
Now A Full-Grown Man
Still Handsome As Could Be
He Was No Longer A Child
Now A Vietnam Veteran And On His Own
We Spent Some Wonderful Family Times Together
Then Once Again He Was Gone
For 26 Long Years We Knew Not Where The Other One Was
But We Still Remembered, Prayed And Cared
Then One Special Day Just A Few Months Ago,
With The Guidance Of Angels To A Wonderous Place
There On The Internet
On His Website Was A Site So Rare!
His Face Was Before Me
I Sent Him An E-Mail Hoping That He Would Still Care
And Within Minutes He Had Replied, "Hey!"
And Words And Tears For Hours We Shared
We Are Family Once More
Full Of Much Love And Hope!
Together We Vow We Will Never Be Separated Again
Our Lives Have Been Blessed By The Angels Above
We've Much Time To Make Up And We Are Eager To Begin
Old Painful Memories To Let Go
Many New Wonderful Ones To Make
Family Time To Be Together And To Give Thanks
That We Have Another Chance
To Let Each Other See How Much Our Family Means To Rick And Me
I Love You Rick!
Hold Onto My Hand Forever And Ever
I Will Be There For You Always And Bobbie And All Of Our Family
I Will Never Let You Leave Again
God Has Given Us This New Day
For Which I Am Thankful For This Holiday Season
And I Am So Proud To Say
Welcome Home
Written for Rick by Aunt Dixie
CopyRight © "Aunt Dixie" November 12--2000
Words That Flow From The Heart Are A Sign Of Love
Please Don't Ever Say That You Cannot Write
Aunt DixieAnd Uncle Chuck
Your Nephew Aka/ Baby Brother
Rick
And Of Course
Bobbie And Rasky Too!!
Our Family
Our Family Is A Circle Of Love And Strength
With Every Birth And Every Union
The Circle Grows
Every Joy Shared Adds More Love
Every Obstacle Together Makes The Circle Stronger
Author Unknown
We May Never See Tomorrow
There's No Guarantee
And Things That Happened Yesterday
Belong To History
We Can't Predict The Future
We Cannot Change The Past
We Have Just The Present Memories
To Cherish As Our Last
We Must Use This Moment Wisely
For It Will Pass Away
And Then Be Lost Forever
As A Part Of Yesterday
We Must Exercise Compassion
Help The Fallen To Their Feet
Be A Friend Unto The Friendless
Help To Make Their Life Complete
The Unkind Things We Do Today
May Never Be Undone
And Friendships That We Fail To Win
May Never More Be Won
We May Not Have Another Chance
On Bended Knees To Pray
We Thank God With A Humble Heart
For Giving Us This Day!
Author Unknown
Many People Will Walk In And Out Of Your Life
But Only True Friends Will Leave Footprints In Your Heart
Author Unknown
COPYRIGHT © 2000-
RASKY'S VIETNAM MEMORIAL
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED