May 8

I know it's May 9, but two events happened on May 8 that I needed to write about them. Both of them were deaths. First of all, on May 8, 1967 my Grandfather Garloch died. He was a tough man, a coal miner by trade who was an elder in the church. He died of lung cancer and black lung disease. I remember his coke-bottle glasses and his hearty laugh. Something we didn't hear much at the White family farm.
The second death was my father-in-law, Allwyn Hart. He died three years ago. It doesn't seem that long ago, it seems like only yesterday. He really died in 1991 when he had his first stroke. After that time, he was only a shell of the man I once knew and his mind was never the same. He could fix anything, he loved his family, and he was one of the most generous men I've ever known.
I will see both of these men again. They knew their God and served Him all their lives. It's wonderful to be in the stream of legacy that these godly, Christian men lived. And I honor them everyday.
I hope you'll take a moment and thank God for those who have influenced your life. There are those whom, I know, God has placed in your path and those who have changed you for good. Have a great day. JW