At the end of the day click here to view photos

At the end of the day the only thing that matters is family and friends. I attended a funeral today from a man that I had only met a couple of times but he was a dear friend to my husband. As a little girl there was this man who I admired so much that I named my first born son after him. His name was Robert Hawthorne, he was my father. As I sat in Paul's funeral I began to think about all the things I wish I had did for and with my father. One of my biggest dreams was to purchase a boat for dad and my husband to use on their fishing trips. I was about eight years old when dad took me to Lake Lavon with him. I can still see the 13.98 Walmart receipt when he bought me my first fishing rod. I also remember him spending 45.00 for his TWO new rods and that was alot of money to us. Dad would let me go fishing and I always had problems baiting my hook. It was about 8:30 a.m. and all was quite on the waters and I kept asking my dad to please come bait my hook until he finally agreed. I stepped back and gave him my rod and he said, Cheryl watch my poles. I agreed but thought to myself that nothing would happen and then to my surprise dad's line started going underwater, it was there, on his hook, one of the biggest fishes he would ever catch. Dad ook off running full speed ahead to grab that pole, I watched in unbelief, Dad was trying to pull that pole in but unfortunately it went underwater and there was nothing dad could do to save it. He was devastated and so was I. That was the day I promised myself if I ever got any money, I was going to purchase the biggest boat for daddy and we would spend hours on the lake. Needless to say, I never got enough money or credit to buy that boat and God decided to take dad home. So back to my original story. Paul told my husband that he could bring my dad out to go fishing on his boat. I can see my fathers eyes just as clearly as day, he was so excited about going to Paul's pond and getting on that boat. After he had the fishing experience of a lifetime he talked about it for days..weeks... and years. To me Paul was my fathers dream giver. He fulfilled a dream for someone that he didn't even know. As I shared this story at the funeral I saw tears streaming down the families face. You see, at the end of the day (your God given days) that is the only thing that matters. What will people say about me at the end of the day? Will a stranger tell my family that I shared a smile or gave them a dollar when they were short on change? Will a single parent say that I bought their child a pair of socks during the winter time or will an elderly person say that I just took time to listen? Will my kids say that I loved them unconditionally and my husband say that I was the best wife he will ever have? What will people say , at the end of YOUR day?

Alexander Smith says it best; Your death and my death are mainly of importance to us. Tears will dry, hurt hearts will close, and the world will continue on. It does not miss us; and those near and dear to us, when vacancy wears off, will not miss us much either......At the end of the day.