Remembrances

rsz_bill_and_sarah

1 Corinthians 13:12

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

 

November 3rd, 2013 marked the thirty-first anniversary of the passing of my daddy, Billy Thomas Martin. On a lonesome autumn night a massive heart attack took the life of the only earthly father I?ll ever have. Even after all these years I cannot wrap my head around living without my daddy. He was far from perfect but I know he loved me, and I loved him even as God loves me with all my imperfections.

 

There are so many things I wish he could have stayed around to see, like my daughter Wendy growing up and becoming a wonderful young woman. She was only three when he died. It?s funny that Daddy would wrap his arms around his granddaughter Wendy and snuggle up to her on the couch, and pet her silly. He was never an affectionate man with his own four children. It?s strange how a grandchild can mellow a tough old man?s heart.

 

Daddy didn?t get to know his great-granddaughter, Emma but the Bible tells me that we will know each other for who we are in heaven. Oh what a reunion day it will be. My daddy and granddaughter would have had a lot of interesting conversations. Emma would have given her great grandpa a run for his money. Literally, she would probably have talked him into giving her the farm. Emma didn?t meet my daddy on earth but I tell her a lot about him. She will have no remembrances of him except for the things I share with her about his life.

 

As the day?s pass and the years multiply I can see the twilight of youth fade into the dark of night. I feel my life slipping away, migrating toward only remembrances of me. Years after I?m gone what will people say about Sarah Martin Byrd? How will you be remembered?

 

These are a few things I hope people will remember about me when I’m long gone.

  1. Sarah knew she was a sinner saved by grace. She loved and trusted God with all her heart.
  2. Sarah loved her family unconditionally.
  3. Sarah loved her friends, and her cats.
  4. Sarah had a unique imagination and enjoyed putting her thoughts down on paper.
  5. She loved to read, great, and not so great books.
  6. She was country through and through and proud of it. She was born a country girl and died a countrified old lady.
  7. Sarah loved the mountains, the rivers, and the ocean. Put her outside amongst God?s creation and she was happy.
  8. Sarah liked to dig in the earth and watch things grow. She loved the land.
  9. In her youth she enjoyed the game of softball.
  10. Once upon a day she thought she would enjoy owning a horse. That didn?t really work out so well, the horse, or Sarah one was too stubborn for each other.
  11. ?Sarah tried to treat people like she?d like to be treated herself.
  12. Sarah stood up for what she believed in even if she was the only one on her side.

 

Sorry for my rambling, I?m feeling a bit melancholy. Life is really so short. We may not think that what we do while on earth really means anything, but as I look back at all the remembrances of parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends who have passed on I know that they left me with something, a part of them. Maybe not a physical trait, but a piece of what?s inside them. Live, love, laugh and have no regrets when your time comes to depart this earth. Our earthly days are short, but the remembrances that we leave behind are eternal.

 

 

 

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