September 26~ A Celebration of Life~ Happy Birthday, Dad

I know that I wrote a post a while back about my dad and how his Alzheimer's disease had progressed to the point that he no longer recognized us and how difficult it was for Mom to accept.  Dad now is no longer suffering from that debilitating disease but it did not make it any easier for us to accept the reality of his death.  As it would work out, we buried Dad on what would have been his 89th birthday.  I have thought that perhaps he was not too happy about me saying goodbye when I left on my trip and mentioned that I would miss his birthday. I guess he actually did get me back for his birthday after all.
I felt a little guilty as I was driving home from Nova Scotia, knowing that my brother and sister had to make the majority of decisions for the funeral arrangements.  I will say that the viewing was well attended by friends and family paying their respects to Dad and the service was a wonderful celebratory service.  My sincere thanks to all who came and shared with our family.  The flowers were absolutely beautiful.  The VFW and the American Legion provided a moving graveside military service that was very much appreciated by our family.  Following the service we met back at the church where we were provided with a lunch by one of the bereavement teams from our church.  We watched a slide show that tried to capture the life of Bob Wilson, our father and we shared stories with our cousins and friends.  Sadly, Dad was the last of his siblings to die, the end of a generation.  I guess it is time for us to step up now.  Happy Birthday, Dad!!

Our annual hayride for the Community Presbyterian Church in Columbus

Me and Dad

Me and Dad

Mom, Dad, Judy & Me and our Studebaker 

Dad, fishing in Lake Erie

Dad also liked to camp, Mom, not so much!

I think I was taking this photo, Bob & Judy in the front

Dad with his Indian motorcycle, after HS

Dad's brothers, Richard, Walter, sister Kate and his mom.

Our family and Grandpa Wilson

Dad's HS graduation picture

Dad and Luke, reading a farm book.

Merchant Marines