Butch was 12 years older than me –
The same day I graduated from kindergarten - he graduated from high school later that evening.
Pattie was 10 years my senior and she was the spoiler.
But it was Butch's goal in life to make sure I did not grow up to be a brat... so we have him to thank him for my humility and grace.
He taught me so many things.
He taught me to be thoughtful and considerate.
He taught me that whatever I did, should be done with excellence.
He taught me to eat all the mashed potatoes off the spoon and not savor them one lick at a time.
He made sure to remind me that just because I was the baby of the family did not give me special privileges in his book - (although he rewrote his book as we got older and became best friends).
Oh the many conversations we’ve had where he would vent - pour out his heart and describe all the details of his woes.
I would listen - carefully ask questions to make sure I understood it all - and tell him to get his big boy britches on and deal with it.
I will miss those conversations.
Hearing about his travels and expeditions.
Hearing about his new challenges with the Tribes.
I’ll miss his sweet potato soufflé at Thanksgiving and Christmas - his gumbo at family reunions and his practical jokes he loved to play on any new member of the family.
He was a wordsmith and we will all miss hearing him preach as only he could. He was sensitive to God and his heart was bigger than life.
I am so grateful for the memories and for the hope that one day we will be together forever. I am grateful that he is no longer suffering in his body... no longer a covid patient - no longer struggling to breathe -because he is in the presence of the one who gave us all breath.
I want to thank my family for your support and love - and thank all our friends who prayed and believed with us for his miraculous healing.
He did receive it - it simply came in a different package than we had hoped - but nonetheless it came
And I am grateful for this wonderful man I was privileged to call my brother. He loved God - loved his wife and family - and loved me.
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