|
Kathleen was my aunt but we were more like sisters than aunt and neice. She died very unexpectedly a couple of days after Hurricane Wilma went through West Palm Beach, Florida. I know she had been very apprehensive about potential damage from the storm but basically they received only minimal damage.
I'm quite certain after the previous year and weeks without power still heavily in her memory I can only imagine how stressed that made her as well. I talked to her during the eye of the hurricane and never got to speak to her again.
Two days later she was simply gone. She wasn't feeling well and went to the hospital for symptoms she thought were from anxiety but obviously something more serious was the problem. I miss her so much and have put off doing something to memorialize her as she meant so much more to me than most people could have ever known. And so this page is for you Kathleen and all the years of memories we had but will share no more. I sure could have used your shoulder this past year but unfortunately both shoulders I have leaned on for so many years disappeared at almost the same time.
Kathleen was born July 3, 1949 in Beaufort, South Carolina to Ivan and Reba Jackson. She was their sixth child. Kathleen was a very rough and tumble kind of kid and no one would have ever accused her of being a sissy. She loved sports of all kinds and was better than most boys her age. She had a great sense of humor and a beautiful smile.
From the time Kathleen was a young child she began to value money and taught herself how to manage it wisely. Kathleen was a very bright person but she just never really pushed herself to excel at anything so she would feel good about herself. She always wanted the easy way even when it wasn't always the best way. She had a heart of gold. Her children Tracy and Kevin and her two grandchildren Kelsey and Gavin were everything to her.
Life doesn't always work out the way we want and life was no different for Kathleen. One thing I will say for her is that she was always there if you needed a friend or needed something she would try to help you out. We had some beautiful memories as children and as adults we probably had even more. To be able to grow up in West Palm Beach in the country in the 50's is like life just not getting any better. We rode horses, fished, swam the canals, played every imaginable sport, had foot races and in general drove the adults crazy.
As adults we got to baha through the shell pits (when there were still shell pits) in the middle of the night. We partied until we couldn't party any more and called it a night. We went to drive-ins; there aren't many of those left these days. We let our kids drive us nuts I suppose as punishment for how crazy we drove our adults.
All in all we had good lives and we had a very large family. We were a very close family for many years. I can't say for others but I'll miss Kathleen until the day I die. Then guess at that time, Kathleen, Joe, my mom, grandparents, Bobbi, Jimmy, uncles, aunts and every other family member will have a big party in the next life. I miss you all!!
MySpace Glitter Graphics
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Janet - Finally a site for you! I am so happy to have this done. |
|
Elizabeth Seymour - Wish I had known you. I would have liked that. |
|
Janet - In honor of your life I light this candle. You are missed. |
|
Patti J. Campos - The photos pass by too fast... as does life... |
|
Billie - A beautiful tribute to your life. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| Janet - Another year has come without you in it. I miss you so much. |
|
Janet - Happy Easter Girl, Miss You Much! |
|
Melinda Seymour - Sure wish you were still here. It's not the same
without you. |
|
|
|
|
Your candle will be lit and available for veiwing after it is received and approved by the site administrator. Please keep message length to about 120 characters. After you fill out the candle form and it goes to the bravenet page you must click the continue button or the form will not be completed. Thanks for your co-operation.
The Water Bug Story
Down below the surface of a quiet pond lived a little colony of water bugs. They were a happy colony, living far away from the sun. For many months they were very busy, scurrying over the soft mud on the bottom of the pond. They did notice that every once in a while one of their colony seemed to lose interest in going about with its friends. Clinging to the stem of a pond lily, it gradually moved out of sight and was seen no more.
"Look!" said one of the water bugs to another, "One of our colony is climbing up the lily stalk. Where do you think she's going?" Up, up, up it slowly went... Even as they watched, the water bug disappeared from sight. Its friends waited and waited but it didn't return...
"That's funny!" said one water bug to another... " Wasn't she happy here?" asked a second... "Where do you suppose she went?" wondered a third... No one had an answer. They were greatly puzzled.
Finally one of the water bugs gathered its friends together. "I have an idea. The next one of us who climbs up the lily stalk must promise to come back and tell us where he or she went and why." "We promise" they said solemnly.
One spring day not long after the very water bug who had suggested the plan found himself climbing up the lily stalk. Up, up, up he went. Before he knew what was happening, he had broken through the surface of the water and fallen into the broad and free lily pad above.
When he awoke, he looked about with surprise. He couldn't believe what he saw. A startling change had come over his old body. His movement revealed four silver wings and a long tail. Even as he struggled, he felt an impulse to move his wings... The warmth of the sun soon dried the moisture from his new body. He moved his wings again and suddenly found himself above the water.
He had become a dragonfly. Swooping and dipping in great curves, he flew through the air. He felt exhilarated in the new atmosphere.
By and by the new dragonfly landed happily on a lily pad to rest. Then it was that he chanced to look below to the bottom of the pond. Why, he was right above his old friends, the water bugs! There they were scurrying around, just as he had been doing some time before.
Then the dragonfly remembered the promise. without thinking, the dragonfly darted down. Suddenly he hit the surface of the water and bounced away. Now that he was a dragonfly, he could no longer go into the water...
"I can't return!" he said in dismay. "At least I tried. But I can't keep my promise. Even if I could go back, not one of the water bugs would know me in my new body. I guess I'll just have to wait until they become dragonflies too. Then they'll understand what has happened to me, and where I went."
And the dragonfly winged off happily into its wonderful new world of sun and air...
Dear God, please remember my loved ones who has left the pond we live in...and remember me...
The following sites are just some inspirational sites I set up as part of the suicide monument gardens I created in memory of Joe. There are some very nice things there if you have the time to check them out.
|