[Nfbwv-talk] Just Wanted to Share

[Bob Hicks]

Hi Charlene.  Thanks for sharing!  What a wonderful Dad!


Best Regards,

Bob Hicks

-----Original Message-----
From: Nfbwv-talk [mailto:nfbwv-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Smyth,
Charlene R via Nfbwv-talk
Sent: Thursday, January 07, 2016 3:37 PM
To: NFB of West Virginia Discussion List (nfbwv-talk at nfbnet.org)
<nfbwv-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Smyth, Charlene R <Charlene.R.Smyth at wv.gov>
Subject: [Nfbwv-talk] Just Wanted to Share

Hi NFBWV Family,

I was thinking of my dad and just want to share the eulogy we gave him:

DAD'S EULOGY


Walter "Buster" Smyth, Sr. was married to Jane Hetrick Smyth for over 60
years.  They were married on October 15, 1955.  He was the father of five
children, Keith, Walter, Cindy, Arlene and Charlene. He was the grandfather
of four, great grandfather of 10, and great-great grandfather of 2. He was a
navy veteran with four years of active duty and four years in the reserves.

Buster always worked hard to provide his family with everything they ever
needed; and the key word is "needed" - a family, a home, clothes, and food.
As the children all look back on Christmases past, they always got what was
on the top of their Christmas list, which each of them probably only having
three or four things on it as there were five children. Buster and Jane
always made sure the kids always had the one thing they always wanted most
for Christmas; Arlene remembers getting a cotton candy machine one year, a
Barbie makeup doll another year, and a record player another year - they
were never disappointed.

Cindy remembers Dad going to her home and her husband, Fred, told Dad that
their son, Roger, had spilled red Kool-Aid on their blue carpet making it
turn purple in that spot, and Fred said that he had tried everything to get
the stain out and just could not get it out and he didn't know what else to
do. Dad looked at that stain and thought just a little bit and turned to
Fred and said, "I know what to do, mix up five more gallons of Kool-Aid and
pour it all over the rest of the carpet".

Charlene remembers as they were getting ready for a family cookout that Dad
went walking through the living room putting on his ball cap and singing,
"I'm too sexy for my hat, I'm too sexy for my hat."

Keith remembers the time that Dad went to his Uncle Basil's, who lived on
the Halleck Road, to get an old tractor.  The tractor only went about 10
miles per hour, so when Dad was going down Hunsinger Hill, he decided to
kick it out of gear so that the tractor would go faster, and boy did it ever
go faster, but it didn't have any brakes.  Mom and Keith were riding in a
truck behind the tractor and they said that the tires on that old tractor
were just shaking away, and when Dad got to the bottom of the hill, he was
shaking also and said that he didn't know what ever possessed him to do
that.

Walt remembers when Dad and his brother, Grover, decided to make homemade
brew and they bottled it and stored it in a cupboard in the basement.  The
first hot summer day as they sat in the kitchen, you could hear from the
basement - BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! And all the bottles exploded except for one.

Besides remembering their Dad as an easy-going and funny person, they also
remember the dedication he had to his family. As all five of the kids had
medical problems and it seemed as one of them was in the hospital at one
time or another, which is where their Mom needed to be at the time, Buster
would work all day and then come home and cook dinner, wash clothes, and
take care of the kids.

Buster was a wonderful cook and made the best hot sausage hoagies ever! The
family remembers watching the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday evenings,
and the times Buster would make either peanut butter cookies, ice cream
floats, popcorn, or milk shakes for them to eat while watching the show.

The family remembers how funny he always was, although sometimes Jane didn't
always think so. Especially, on one occasion in the mid-sixties when Jane
had just taken her hair out of pin curls and fixed it, and she came outside
where they had an above ground swimming pool and Buster picked Jane up and
threw her in the pool.  The whole family laughed and giggled, but Jane was
not happy and an all-out family water battle followed.

The kids remember a winter snowstorm and huge piles of snow and Buster
asking, "Who wants vanilla ice cream?" Of course they all shouted that they
did, so Buster put on his boots and coat and grabbed the biggest bowl they
had and went outside.  As all five children crowded around the door to
watch, Buster filled the bowl full of snow and then came back inside and
added sugar and vanilla; they all thought that it was the best "ice cream"
ever.

What a wonderful father he was!  Life wasn't always perfect, but his
dedication to his family in good times and bad times showed the family what
a loving husband and father he was.

"Grief never ends... but it changes.
It's a passage, not a place to stay.
Grief is not a sign of weakness, nor a lack of faith...
It is the price of love.



This email and any files transmitted with it are intended solely for the
individuals or entities originally addressed, and may contain confidential
and privileged information protected by law. If you are not the intended
recipient, any dissemination, distribution, copying, or action taken in
relation to the contents of this email is prohibited and may be unlawful. If
you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately
and permanently delete the original and any copy or printout.
_______________________________________________
Nfbwv-talk mailing list
Nfbwv-talk at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwv-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
Nfbwv-talk:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbwv-talk_nfbnet.org/bob%40seeinghandasso
ciation.com