July 14, 1940 ~ June 24, 2005

.....s'already been a year ago today...RIP James R. Bell, Jr. :loveya:

July 14, 1940 ~ June 24, 2005



He was retired from the International Union of Elevator Constructors and served in the United States Marine Corp.






Do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on the snow,
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush,
Of quiet birds in circled flight;
I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry, I am not there, I did not die.

~Author Unknown~

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~Wish You Were Here~

So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?

Do you think you can tell?

And did they get you trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?

Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange
a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here....

We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl,
year after year,
running over the same old ground.

What have we found?

The same old fears,
wish you were here.

~Pink Floyd~


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RL

:hug:

To James R. Bell...


...and lots of love to you. :hug:

:loveya: :hug:

I would love to hear a story about him if you're willing. :hug:

.....he was born and raised in Northeast Louisiana...served in the Marines and married my Mom June 5th, 1964...worked most of his life as an "evelvator man"...fixing and maintaining most of the elevators here in town and inspections on others around in all parishes in N.E. La...he was an avid outdoorsman and loved hunting and fishing...he worked very hard to provide for his wife and two daughters...he had a quick wit and was very charming...although he was raised in a typical southern Baptist home and was taught the redneck mentality...I overcame that mindset and we argued relentlessly about politics and racism...but he had a good heart regardless and was loved by many...I loved him more than words can express dispite our differences....he gave to me my love of music and my sense of humor for which I'll be forever grateful. :)

....after 3 years with his fight with Leukimeia. :(

Two Southern gals who miss our fathers. My dad was career Army and died from his battle with lung cancer in 2000. I get my sense of humor from him as well. :)

I am so sorry for your loss. James sounds like a great man and I'm glad to know more about him.

...from anyone else as I knew from him. :hug:

I'm sorry for your loss as well...it gets a little easier as time goes by as the sayin' says...but still a hole in my heart none the less. :(

My father died in 1989 and I too got my sense of humor from him.

And a day doesn't go by that I don't think of him. He still makes me smile. :)

:hug: :loveya:

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That was a very beautiful moving, poignant and touching tribute that deeply moved me :hug::hug: I'm so, so sorry for your loss. I know how hard anniversaries of a loved one's departure from this world can be :hug: :hug: :loveya:

My thoughts and prayers are with you as you go through this day Jus the Facts

May your father rest in peace

....he and I were so different in so many ways...but just exactly alike in others...I obsorbed his willfullness and we butted heads so often...but I KNOW he loved me unconditionally more than any other soul ever has or will. :cry: :hug:

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You are keeping his memory alive in your heart and in your thoughts. I know it's hard, it doesn't get any easier, just different.

:hug:

aA

....Ray Charles and Willie Nelson as I type. :cry: Thank You very much for your kind words. :hug:

He looked down into her blue eyes, and said
"Say a prayer for me". She
Threw her arms around him, whispered
"God will keep us free".
They could hear the riders comin', He said
"This is my last fight...If they
Take me back to Texas, they won't
Take me back a-live.

There were seven Spanish angels, at the
Altar of the sun.
They were prayin' for the lovers, in the
Valley of the gun.
When the battle stopped and the smoke cleared,
There was thunder from the throne,
And seven spanish angels, took a-nother
Angel home.

She reached down and picked the gun up,
That lay smokin in his hand.
She said, "Father please forgive me;
I can't make it without my man."
And she knew the gun was empty,
And she knew she couldn't win,
But her final prayer was answered
When the rifles fired again.

There were seven Spanish angels, at the
Altar of the sun.
They were prayin' for the lovers, in the
Valley of the gun.
When the battle stopped and the smoke cleared,
There was thunder from the throne,
And seven spanish angels, took a-nother
Angel home.

He lives in them

....and I'm grateful for they brought me to where I am today...more compassionate and much stronger...to face what ever the future holds. :loveya: :hug:

I am reading your incredibly beautiful eulogy to this man....

And even though I hardly know you, and I didn't know him at all.....

I am weeping at the outpouring of love I feel here in this thread.....

Your beautiful words and pictures tell me what we all should remember:

To tell the people we love, that we do love them.....

And to live our lives as fully as we can......

Because we truly do not know when our earthly lives will end.....

And our souls will escape this clay we call our flesh......

Thank you for this today!

I can only say thank you......words fail me.....

:hug: :loveya:

....so glad to hear that your diagnosis was NEGATIVE!!!! :hug: :hug:

:hug: Peace, my friend.

...peace to you and yours as well..give Chris a big hug and kisses from me! :hug: :loveya:

Time has helped some...my niece is due to have her little girl any day...the first due date the doc gave her was yesterday...I sure wanted that baby to be born the second my dad passed on last year..ya know a little sorta sign ;-)....but it wasn't to be. :shrug:

My condolences at the loss of this wonderful man.

Many of your words in this thread remind me of the relationship I had with my own dad. How I miss him so.

....I share your melancholy all too well. :hug:

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:hug: :loveya:

You were one of us. Please say hello to Robert Lee Johnston, my dad.
He's in Heaven with you, he was WWII Navy. We'll see y'all soon.

:hug:

...one of my Dad's best friends since high school is a Johnston...and my Uncle married a girl named Johnston...do you happen to have any relatives in Louisiana and Texas?

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....but it is all too real...thanks David. :hug: :loveya:

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Those are wonderful pictures...Hang in there! :loveya:

....my favorites are the two where he's holdin' the paper and in the next I'm holdin' it...he taught me to use my mind...then didn't like it much when later in life...he decided to close his...yet mine kept expandin'...but he loved me regardless of not bein' able to understand where I was comin' from most of the time. :hug: :loveya:

I remember well when he passed - can't believe it's been a year already. Big hugs. :hug:

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:hug: :loveya:

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....he fought as long as he could but the bone marrow transplant is what finally took him out..instead of makin' him well as we were expecting. :(

gone too soon at 65. but it's nice you have many great memories of him.

...I always felt like I was forever a thorn in his side because we didn't agree on so many of life's ideals...but I knew despite his ingrained redneck mentality...he was a loving...caring...affectionate man that was always devoted to his family even when he wasn't being the best person he could be at times...he and I would argue constantly about politics and religion...but we still loved each other unconditionally despite our many differences of opinion.

Thank You. :hug: