The Lord gives, and He takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.God breathed life into my nephew Billy 20+ years ago and He took it away yesterday morning, Wednesday Sept 3rd.
As I am overcome with grief and my heart feels pierced, I am ever grateful for Billie's life and the opportunities I got to spend with him.
In the scheme of eternity, life is brief. Whether we live one month, 20 years, or 90 years, we are momentary.
BUT, in the moments we have, in the moments Billy had, he made a precious, significant contribution in the lives he touched.
In my life.
My memories, my moments with Billy began when he was just a long, squirming crying baby. Never content with anyone but his mom, my sister Debbie.
From the beginning they had a special bond.
It wasn’t until he was out of the baby phase that I was able to begin knowing him and discover his unique personality and tender heart.
-His artistic abilities became apparent when he was still a “little guy”. He drew all sorts of pictures and gave them as gifts. He spent hours constructing Leggo masterpieces.
-At the age of 4 or 5 he could beat me 90% of the time at the memory card game “Concentration”, squealing with delight at his victory over us “old” folks.
-Skateboarding became a passion as he got a bit older. He loved to show off with stunts of flying off the porch steps, spinning in the air, and racing at top speed down the drive way. He made it look so easy! Ha.
-I remember being impressed with his karate moves and his “chop-socki” (num-chuk?) sticks that he could twirl around like batons without hitting himself or me as he performed.
-His big sister Melissa was relentless in keeping him on his fighting “toes” as the two of them had sibling battles.
Billy….Oh Billy. What a joy filled boy and then young man- William.
Mike and I spent a special time with him when he came to visit us in Texas several years ago. We dragged him around to all sorts of Fort Worth sight-seeing stuff. He was such a good sport making everything we did so much more entertaining and meaningful. We spent a whole day at an RV show going from RV to RV with Billy paving the way, giving us his assessments and opinions of each one. His main focus was whether our dogs Biskit and Cookie would find them comfortable. He had a way with animals.
-More recently he became quite a technology geek. Lots of expertise at online video games, computer and I-Pod stuff. In June, just a couple of months ago, he gave me a beginner “text messaging” lesson on my cell phone. I am pretty remedial, but he was patient in teaching ol’ Aunt Kathie several times. I never did figure it out.
Though Billy faced lots of things in his life I would consider “hard”, like seeing his dad become ill, going through multiple surgeries, experiencing countless illnesses, he was characterized by his positive/fun filled attitude, his warm, caring, loving and gentle heart, his brilliant smile and non-stop sense of humor and wit, his love of kidding around.
We all wish we could hear his voice once more, see his handsome animated face, hear his laughter, feel his embrace. We can’t.
His moments on earth weren’t numerous enough for us, those he left behind, BUT they were moments that he packed with life and love.
I can no longer see Billy physically, but my memories of him are just a blink of the eye away, hidden in my heart where I can visit him all the days of my life for all the rest of my moments.
Thank you Billy for enriching my life.
It wasn’t until he was out of the baby phase that I was able to begin knowing him and discover his unique personality and tender heart.
-His artistic abilities became apparent when he was still a “little guy”. He drew all sorts of pictures and gave them as gifts. He spent hours constructing Leggo masterpieces.
-At the age of 4 or 5 he could beat me 90% of the time at the memory card game “Concentration”, squealing with delight at his victory over us “old” folks.
-Skateboarding became a passion as he got a bit older. He loved to show off with stunts of flying off the porch steps, spinning in the air, and racing at top speed down the drive way. He made it look so easy! Ha.
-I remember being impressed with his karate moves and his “chop-socki” (num-chuk?) sticks that he could twirl around like batons without hitting himself or me as he performed.
-His big sister Melissa was relentless in keeping him on his fighting “toes” as the two of them had sibling battles.
Billy….Oh Billy. What a joy filled boy and then young man- William.
Mike and I spent a special time with him when he came to visit us in Texas several years ago. We dragged him around to all sorts of Fort Worth sight-seeing stuff. He was such a good sport making everything we did so much more entertaining and meaningful. We spent a whole day at an RV show going from RV to RV with Billy paving the way, giving us his assessments and opinions of each one. His main focus was whether our dogs Biskit and Cookie would find them comfortable. He had a way with animals.
-More recently he became quite a technology geek. Lots of expertise at online video games, computer and I-Pod stuff. In June, just a couple of months ago, he gave me a beginner “text messaging” lesson on my cell phone. I am pretty remedial, but he was patient in teaching ol’ Aunt Kathie several times. I never did figure it out.
Though Billy faced lots of things in his life I would consider “hard”, like seeing his dad become ill, going through multiple surgeries, experiencing countless illnesses, he was characterized by his positive/fun filled attitude, his warm, caring, loving and gentle heart, his brilliant smile and non-stop sense of humor and wit, his love of kidding around.
We all wish we could hear his voice once more, see his handsome animated face, hear his laughter, feel his embrace. We can’t.
His moments on earth weren’t numerous enough for us, those he left behind, BUT they were moments that he packed with life and love.
I can no longer see Billy physically, but my memories of him are just a blink of the eye away, hidden in my heart where I can visit him all the days of my life for all the rest of my moments.
Thank you Billy for enriching my life.
Thank you Lord for Billy's life.
