I DO NOT LIKE THIS DYING STUFF!

My Uncle Lloyd went home to be with God yesterday and it's rough. He was such an important part of all of our lives that it is hard to really wrap our minds around it. He might have been a very laid back person in most ways, but truly he was a force to be reckoned with. A mighty prayer warrior, pastor, mentor, friend, singer, leader and jokester just to name a few.

With him going it brings an end to the Dads & Daughters, a singing group that I have been blessed to sing with for over 10 years. I loved it. Singing with those three other people was as easy as breathing for me. I'm not sure where to go from here because that ministry was very important to us and our family.

I almost drowned once and this is the exact same feeling. Like you are going under and cannot breath. The waves keep crashing down. He was my Uncle not my Dad, so I cannot even imagine what my cousins are going through. Although in lots of ways he was my second father, my buddy.

When my Aunt died late this last year and I made the trip to Pensacola/Lillian AL with Lloyd and my other Aunt and Uncle. Lloyd had just had his second hip replaced. He was walking with a walker and I was his gopher. We had a blast! It was a terribly sad occasion and we all still miss Aunt Ruth greatly, but for me it was a special trip. Lloyd and I spent lots of time together and I will always be thankful.

I will miss him bunches as will the rest of the family. He was Jacob's mentor, Jessa's goofoff buddy and Will's friend. Believe me I don't think that Will is ever going to forget the fact that Uncle Lloyd called him Rich for our first 3 years of marriage. At first it was by accident, but then after that I'm not so sure. I think that he just liked to tease Will that way.

He had a very quick wit. I will miss him stopping us in a song while the Dads & Daughters were singing and asking us if we had ever sung this song before. I will miss him playing the jug on one of our songs because he said it had too many words and we sang them too fast. I will miss him singing the girl's part in another one exclaiming in falcetto "He didn't even shake my hand!". The man kept me in stitches quite often and for the most part I could not allow myself to look at him during our concerts because I would get the giggles.

I'm just plain going to miss my Uncle Lloyd and all of the fun that he brought into my life.

Thank you God for letting me share him all these years. I just hope that I remember all of the lessons that he tried to teach us all just by living his every day life.

See you Uncle Lloyd and be ready to sing when I get there.