RIP LUTHER VANDROSS

LUTHER VANDROSS: 1951-2005 / Studio singer soared to stardom / Top-selling balladeer never fully recovered from stroke in 2003

R.I.P. Johnny Carson

CNN.com - Johnny Carson, late-night TV legend, dead at 79 - Jan 23, 2005

How Are We Supposed To Live Without You? | RIP Laura Branigan

Yahoo! News - 'Gloria' Singer Laura Branigan Dies at 47

R.I.P. Ronald W. Reagan

RIP Captain Kangaroo

Bob Keeshan has passed away at 76. My favorite part of the "Captain Kangaroo" show was when Mr. Moose tricked the Captain into saying something that led to a bunch of ping pong balls dropping on him.

Gone Only Temporarily

On October 23, 2003, one of the women my wife takes care of at her job, was killed in an automobile accident. Both of us attended her memorial service. We received a card with the following inscription on it:

Fill not your hearts with pain and sorrow,
but remember me in every tomorrow.
Remember the joy, the laughter, the smiles,
I've only gone to rest a little while.
Although my leaving causes pain and grief,
my going has eased my hurt and given me relief.
So dry your eyes and remember me,
Not as I am now, but as I used to be.
Because I will remember yu all and look on with a smile.
Understand, in your hearts, I've only gone to rest awhile.
As long as I have the love of each of you,
I can live my life in the hearts of all of you.

RIP Warren Zevon

I saw this announcement today via NTN, a trivia network set up for bars and restaurants. They broadcast news headlines in between asking questions. My dad had a Warren Zevon album, and I think it was the one with "Werewolf in London" (or something like it) on it.

RIP Bob Hope

Visitation

Jennie and I attended the visitation for the three people killed in the automobile crash this past Sunday. It was a heart-wrenching experience:

The line to see and be with the dearly departed extended outside the funeral home.

Kieran

As soon as we got to where the caskets were, I saw Kieran. She was dressed in a nice outfit, wearing a baby hat. A baby blanket was placed over her. Sunday was her one-year old birthday. She was born and she died on the same day, one year exactly. We had met her parents before when they visited our church with Sarah and Bill. Her parents are in their early to to mid twenties, and they remained beside her casket as people came in. Kieran's mother clutched one of her daughter's stuffed toys, and both she and her husband openly wept aloud. They said they were grateful that they had her for as long as they did, but it was obvious that there would still be a lot of grieving.

Sarah

The next casket down was Sarah's. She was only 22 years old. It had been awhile since I'd last seen her. I believe it was late last summer, at their oldest son Kade's 3 year old birthday party in a park. The funeral home did a wonderful job with her makeup and outfit. Yet, for some reason, I could tell she didn't look the same. This gave me a little bit of an idea how horrific the accident was.

Hayden

In the last casket was Hayden, Bill and Sarah's youngest son, 20 months old, born just six days after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. He looked different, too from what I remember. He was dressed in a "little-man" outfit.

Bill

Bill remained by his and Sarah's caskets. He said that he had been going through a cycle of emotions. I told him that I didn't know what to say. My mom had given me an envelope with some words she'd written for him. I handed it to him, and he placed it in his suit jacket.

Good Can Come From This

If there can be any good to come from this, it may be that the two babies never had an opportunity to grow up and reject God. Sarah had been a disciple of Jesus Christ, and we can pray that her heart was right with God.

Memorial Poems

Inside the memorial flyers, along with the details of the three individuals, were two poems that I'm going to post: Little Angels and I'm Free.

Prayer Request - Followup

For those that don't know, check this post out first: Mom, two kids die in pileup on I-70

I just received this email:

I hope this finds you well... Some of you may already know, but for those who don't...

Sarah, Hayden, and Keiran (my wife, son, and niece) perished in a horrific automobile accident on Sunday around 1:00pm.

Some of you may have already seen it on the news or in the paper, but I wanted to ensure you were notified. I ask that you forward this email to anyone who you feel may need to know about what has happened.

Please keep me in your prayers, as well as Kade (my 3-year old son), and the extended family.

For those of you who are parents.................. please hug or call your children immediately after reading this.

RIP Buddy Ebsen

R.I.P. Buddy Ebsen

Jed Clampett, Beverly Hillbilly, has now departed.

RIP Barry White

R.I.P. Barry White

RIP Buddy Hackett

I love his rendition of "Shipoopi" in The Music Man

RIP David Brinkley and Gregory Peck

Two screen legends who will be missed

Daisy and John - A Love Story

Today after church we went to the local Meijer and, among other things, we bought Keisha two comet goldfish. She named the orange one, which was bigger, Daisy. The silver and smaller one she named John. They were only $0.17 apiece, which is a really good deal. The associate pumped some air into the water in the bag. I asked her how long they would last in the bag. About three hours was the reply:

We were waiting for some pictures we had sent off for development to arrive. That, actually, was the reason we went to the Meijer. We bought the fish and some other stuff and went to the Perkin's across the street to get some lunch. Keisha made sure to bring Daisy and John with her. After eating lunch, we returned to Meijer so that I could pick up our pictures.

But Meijer is a store that always seems to suck you in. Sure, you go in for one thing, but you always wind up coming out with something more. For me, it was the two cases of Cherry Coke. The entire transaction - the pictures and the pop - took much longer than we had anticipated.

By the time I came back to our car, Keisha had fallen asleep, and Jennie was holding the bag with the fish in it in front of our air conditioner vent. We drove home, and I immediately got things set up for the fish to get to their new home. The only thing about it was that Daisy had stopped moving. I followed the instructions about letting them get acclimated to the water temperature, yet we saw no movement from Daisy.

After the suggested acclimation time, I used the fish net and transferred both Daisy and John to their fish bowl. No movement from Daisy still. Then, John stopped moving, too. Or did he? We took Daisy out of the bowl and led her to the bathroom for a burial ceremony.

Keisha, Jennie, my mom, and I were in the bathroom. I asked Keisha if she'd like to say a few words. She said, "Bye, Daisy, I'll miss you. Have a good trip!" Then I flushed her down the toilet.

We returned to Keisha's room and saw that John wasn't moving. We decided to wait until dinner time to make the decision whether to pronounce him dead or not.

Skip ahead several hours... I was working on the roof this afternoon, and Keisha came out to say, "Daddy, John is still not moving!"

"Okay," I said, "we'll take care of it when I get down."

I came down from the roof and went with Keisha to her room. Fish net in hand, I scooped the dead John from the fish bowl and led him to the bathroom. I asked Keisha again if she had any words. She said, "Bye, John! See you later!"

I overheard my mom utter the following:

John is heading for the "john"
Big, bad John
Big, bad, no more

So, we may be heading back to the pet store to get a couple more comet goldfish yet tonight.

R.I.P. Fred Rogers

From the "Life's but a walking shadow" Department...

R.I.P. Fred Rogers

• Fred Rogers dead at 74
• PBS Kids - Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Home Page
• AP TV - Key Events in the Life of Fred Rogers

May it always be a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

R.I.P. Nell Carter

Remember the show "Gimme A Break"?