Delaney ready for her very first swim meet.
5.30.2007
Let me see your...
GRILLZ:0
You have to click the pic to truly appreciate the craftsmanship of these "crunck teeth". And why is my stepmom still gorgeous with silver caps? Someone please tell me. She has been through hell and back the past year and looks AMAZING!
5.26.2007
Eulogy I read at the service
First, I want to thank you all for being here. For showing such tremendous respect for my Dad and providing such gracious support for my family. Thank you.
In the last year, as we've all dealt with Dad's illness in different ways, I've thought mostly about my relationship with him, and what I will be taking into my life from him that I can pass on to my children. Because I am a mother and not a father, it has taken me a long time to see what I have gotten from Dad besides his big round face and his big, ugly feet. I hear myself sounding more and more like Mom every day as I raise my kids. But I have worked to find Dad in me, too. There’s so much more of him in me than I ever thought. Let me tell you about him, from the perspective and experience of being his baby girl.
My Dad and I communicated best just sitting together quietly shoulder-to-shoulder. Or joking around endlessly. If you really knew him, you know he had a great sense of humor. For instance, we have spent the past 15 years, since Mom died, scaring each other with rubber snakes. Back and forth, I never knew where I’d find one… in my bed, my suitcase on many occasions, my sock drawer, wrapped around my steering wheel. I’m going to miss those stupid snakes. He didn’t always say what was on his mind, but he found ways to communicate his love anyway. He was a hugger, and his hugs cured any pain, any heartache. Out-of-the-blue hugs where he just grabbed you with his big strong arms from across the room and enveloped you in his love and security. He was a man of few words… but when he spoke, you listened. And in all my 32 years, I never, ever heard him raise his voice in anger. Ever. Or say a single mean word to anyone. He didn’t have to. It wasn’t his way. He gained so much respect from that quality.
From him I was given unending support, even when I made crazy decisions like moving to California right out of college to be with some guy with insane dreams. I always wanted to make him proud and never disappoint him. He always trusted me to make the right decisions, and if I didn’t, I knew I always had him to fall back on. He was always my soft place to fall.
So, how do you say “goodbye” to the man who gave you everything? The man who gave you life. The man who provided you with a solid and secure foundation built on love. I had the greatest childhood. Ricky, Keri and I are some of the few people in this world who can say they had a close-to-perfect childhood. We did. Our parents were the reason. My dad worked hard so we could have worry-free lives, giving us the ability to use our imaginations to dream and have good educations to make those dreams reality. He gave us everything.
My Dad always gave me the best, juiciest bite of his steak. He always smelled like Ice Blue Aqua Velva, or grilled food or fish or car grease. He taught me how to bait a hook, and clean fish. When I was in high school, soon after mom died, he would take me in the back yard and throw tennis balls at the brick wall of our house with me to release anger. Also during that time, he taught me how to fall asleep on nights that I couldn’t. We’d lay together, first relaxing our toes, then our feet, our ankles…an so on. I don’t think we ever make it to our thighs before we were both snoring. I have taught that same trick to my oldest daughter.
Speaking of my girls. He was an even better grandfather. A “Pops”. He was a get on the floor and play a game Pops, take them fishing or boat riding Pops, chat on the phone Pops, X-Box playing Pops. They are going to miss out on so much of his love and personality. We will keep his legacy alive, with the help of “Mr. C”. Now they have one more amazing angel to watch over them as they grow.
Because of my Dad, I don’t cringe at soft rock or easy listening music. It makes me think of him. So many songs from so many road trips make me think of him. What other 60-year-old man knows the words to Baby Got Back? Because of him I love camping and water and Daddy-long-leg spiders, listening to birds. I love BBQ pork chops and steak grilled with only garlic. I know how to properly mow grass and change oil and tires in my car.
He was the ultimate father and ultimate provider. It never failed, he would stand in the driveway in his moccasin slippers saying, “Before you go, let me check your oil and tires”. “Do you need any cash?” - “No I don’t.” - “Take it anyway.” Just this past Easter he stuffed my pocket with a wad of cash. He figured that as long as he could help, he would. He had, has a heart of gold, for his family and his friends. I am his baby. He protected me from everything.
It feels so strange to be talking about him in the past tense. He is still so much a part of our lives and always will be. He was such a good, good man - an amazing dad, husband, brother, son, friend, soldier, hard worker, fisherman, generous and loving and strong and kind and funny and full of life. There was so much more he wanted to do with Dixie, wonderful, beautiful Dixie. We are so incredibly fortunate to have her in our lives. There is so much more he wanted to do with his grandchildren. I know he has gone to a better place, a place without pain and into the arms of a woman who has been patiently (or not so patiently) waiting for him to return to her, but it still sucks. I have been unable to come up with a more suitable word for this situation. It just sucks. It still seems unfair. The only solace I have is that we will all be together again one day, never to be separated. It’s only a matter of time.
And so, I will always think of him when I look at myself in the mirror and see that I really do have the Jackson face and so many of his mannerisms. We both chew our cheeks when we’re nervous, we both love our heads and backs scratched, we both go silent when we’re feeling strong emotions. I can also see that I am lucky to have his passionate nature, his love of the outdoors, family and of life itself, and his strength. With any luck, in thirty years, my children will look at themselves, and count themselves lucky, too.
So, I will miss you, Pop, my Popadopalus, my Superman, my hero. I will miss you, but you will be with me wherever I go, because I am from you.
Love, Your Baby, Forever and Always
Shorty
5.20.2007
Obituary
Jackson, Richard Neil “Rick”, 60, died at his home surrounded by family in Athens, AL on Friday, May 18, 2007 after a courageous battle with cancer. He retired after a 35-year career in the nuclear industry and was a decorated veteran of the U.S. Army during Vietnam. During his life, he was a resident of Taylorville and Erie, IL, Zachary, LA, Russellville, AR, and Athens, AL. He enjoyed time with family, fishing, gardening, and Nascar. He is survived by his loving wife of 12 years, Dixie Jackson; brother, Bill Jackson of Columbia, MO; son and daughter-in-law, Rick and Beth Jackson of Henderson, NV; daughter and son-in-law, Keri and Chad Parker of Zachary, LA; daughter and son-in-law Angie and Ryan Dick of Slidell, LA; stepson and girlfriend, Jason Miller and Mandy Goldman of Houston, TX; and a special niece, Teresa Wright of Taylorville, IL. He was known as “Pops” to his 8 grandchildren, FÃĐde Smith, Bradley and Ella Jackson, Austin and Nicholas Parker, Delaney, Madelyn, and Sophia Dick. He was preceded in death by his loving wife of 25 years, Jeannie Teter Jackson; father, Cecil Jackson; mother, Hazel Helfer; brother, Dale Jackson; and sister, Kay Jackson. A visitation honoring his life will be held at Charlet Funeral Home in Zachary, LA on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 at 12:00 pm until memorial service at 2:00 pm officiated by Ron Thompson. Graveside services and military rites will immediately follow at Azalea Rest Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Bill Jackson, Carroll Law, Rick Jackson, Chad Parker, Ryan Dick, and Jason Miller. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in his name to American Cancer Society and the Hospice of Limestone County in Athens, AL. He loved life, friends and family, and will be sadly missed by those who knew him. "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."
5.18.2007
5.14.2007
Dixie Lullaby - Pat Green
Artist/Band: Green Pat
Lyrics for Song: Dixie Lullaby
Lyrics for Album: Cannonball
My father had skin like leather
hands like steel
from a lifetime spent in the cottonfields
though hed come home tired and dirty
almost everynight
he found the strength to smile at me and hold my mama tight
while that old transister radio would play the opry out in the hall
id sit and watch their shadows glide across the wall
and theyd dance to a dixie lullaby
picture of love beneath the southern sky
oh my what a beautiful life
just like a dixie lullaby
i left home at 18
in a hand me down chevrolet
packed my mamas goodness and my old mans stubborn ways
it was college, work, and love
then the babies came
the youngest ones got his grandaddy's name
and in the early morning hours when my children could not sleep.
i'd rock them in my arms to a simple beat
and id sing them a dixie lullaby
hush baby dont you start to cry
oh my what a beautiful life
just like a dixie lullaby
my father was a mountain of a man
that was the description that i gave
the morning that we laid him in his grave
there with my mama by his side, we said our last goodbye
to a man we thought would never die
as i stood there in the fields of amazing grace
oh how the tears ran down my face.
and i sang him a dixie lullaby
well meet again, by and by
oh my what a beautiful life
just like a dixie lullaby
oh my what a beautiful life
just like a dixie lullaby
5.09.2007
Let me just say, first of all, that this was a VERY last minute birthday party. I had planned on doing something bigger before I rushed off to see Dad. So, on the way home from Alabama yesterday, I called my dear friend and neighbor Rebecca from to see if she would mind picking up balloons and streamers for me because Ryan wouldn't have time after picking up Madelyn and Sophia, going to Wal-mart for the cake and plates, and getting home to get Delaney off the bus and take her to Swim Team Practice... so that when I got home I could hurry and decorate the kitchen to surprise her when she came home from practice. Austin and Nicholas would be there so I thought it would be a good time to have her Tinkerbell themed mini-party. Rebecca said something about how she had a good idea and a tent and her back yard and don't worry about it, to just come over to her house at six. I was baffled and just said, "okay". As long as there was a cake and some people who care about Delaney, that's all that mattered, right? Well, at six, we walked over to her backyard and into a Tinkerbell Fairy Garden party... in like 3 hours she had created this. She is amazing. The greatest friend ever. She sensed my stress and frenzy and made it simply the most beautiful party a 7-year-old could ask for. All of that and I found out she even went to Wal-mart for Ryan. All I had to do was hand her a check. Ahhhhh!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
