This will be the first year that I will not be able to call my papa on January 22nd to wish him a happy birthday. I'm sure he will have a wonderful birthday where he has gone, especially now that all his pain and suffering has been lifted from him. My papa passed away on April 10, 2006, due to lung cancer. This was the first time I had lost someone really close to me. I guess some would say I was lucky to have been able to go almost 22 years without losing someone close...but that didn't make it any easier. My papa was one of my most favorite people in the whole world...if not the favorite. And it was all kinda sudden. I mean, we knew he was going to die because of the tumor in his lung, but one Friday, he was still up walking around and driving and seemed to be feeling fine...and the next Monday he was gone.

I regret alot of things now that he has passed away. I didn't visit him as often as I should have. Back when I was in elementary and middle school, he would pick me up 2-3 times a week after school, take me to McDonald's, then I would stay at his house til my mom got off work. Once I started driving, and got a job, I didn't see him as much. I wish I had completed more in my life before he died, so he could have been there to see it. Now he will miss my wedding and my college graduation. But I know he will be watching down on me as I go through everything, so in a way, it will be like he is there. I dedicate this blog and the following poem to him....

God looked around his garden,
and found an empty place.
He then looked down upon this earth,
and saw your tired face.
He put his arms around you
and lifted you to rest.
God's garden must be beautiful;
He always takes the best.
He knew that you were suffering;
He knew you were in pain.
He knew that you would never
get well on earth again.
He saw the road was getting rough,
and the hills are hard to climb;
So he closed your weary eyelids
and whispered, "Peace be thine."
It broke our hearts to lose you,
But you didn't go alone.
For part of us went with you,
The day God called you home.

Berry Lee Martin 1929 - 2006