¸.· ´¸.·*´¨❤¸.·*¨¨*•¨*•.¸¸¸.·*´¨❤
¸❤.·´ A MEMORIAL, A LOVING TRIBUTE
(¯'L´¯)✿
.'•.¸.•´(¯'O´¯)✿
******.'•.¸.•´(¯'V´¯)✿
...***********'•.¸.•´(¯'E´¯)
.........**************•.¸.•´
ಌڿڰۣಌ Love you daddy ಌڿڰۣಌ
Joe Wiley Vaughn was born June 3, 1918. He is the son of William Nelson Vaughn and Mary Sue (Snow) Vaughn. He married Rhoda Victoria Self on April 23, 1955 at Wayton, Arkansas.
They had four children together and he is survived by all of them, Beverly Joe, Franklin Dean, Clifton Wiley and Tamara Lynn. Also survived by his oldest child, born before Joe met and married Rhoda, is a son, Freddie Waters. He is also survived by nine grandchildren; Ricky and Ronald Waters, Tonka Myers, Micah and Darren Vaughn, Kortnie Clark, Kassi and Zach Vaughn and Byron Vaughn, ten great grandchildren; Trinity Myers, Shaylee, Stetson, Shalako and Sydney Grantham, Bailey and Logan House, Wiley Cockrum, Dalton and Taylor Vaughn.
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
Daddy lived all his life in Wayton, Arkansas, (Newton County) where he was an active member of the community.
He was an avid hunter and fisherman. He was a farmer and carpenter. When it came to making anything from nothing there was no one that could out-do him.
The concrete and native stone gateway at the Snow Cemetery where daddy is now buried was handmade by him, his dad, Will and one of his nephews.
He was a master story teller and could keep an audience of any age held captive with tales of his childhood and 'haint tales' passed on to him from his mom, my grannie Vaughn.
Daddy could be seen sitting for untold minutes as he would 'call' a quail to him. The male of the species would fly to within yards of Joe thinking he was courting a female.
Daddy played the guitar and loved to sing as he strummed out the tune. His favorites were the old cowboy ballads, Little Joe the Wrangler, Blood Stained Saddle, Ole Shep and gospel music, The Old Rugged Cross being one he sang often.
He was a longtime member of the Masonic Lodge, Buffalo Lodge #366, at Wayton, Arkansas, as was his father and paternal grandfather before him.
After giving his life to Jesus in the early 1980's, daddy wrote a song about his road to redemption. He named it "Mountain of Love". It tells of his struggle to find the right way to ask God for forgiveness and the gracious amount of love and forgiveness he received once he finally knealed at the alter and prayed the one prayer that would set him free.
In daddy's last weeks of life, as he was tended by his wife, Rhoda, my mommie, he asked her several times if she could hear the beautiful singing. She never did, but he insisted he could hear 'the most beautiful singing' passing above him as he lay on his bed.After his death, we as a family, agreed that he had been hearing a heavenly choir calling him home. We thought it appropriate that this be put on his stone, as there could never be a more fitting epitaph than one he'd repeated over and over during his last days on this earth.
At daddy's funeral service, his song, 'Mountain of Love' was sung, as was 'Daddy's Hands'.
Daddy left to find the singing on December 16, 2005. He passed away at Jasper, Arkansas. He was buried in the Snow Cemetery at Wayton, Arkansas on December 20, 2005.
"Daddy said he heard the most beautiful singing, now he's gone home to find it."
Daddy's maternal great grandfather, Wiley Snow, was the first person buried in what was to become the cemetery. During Wiley's life he requested that when he died that he be buried under a big Walnut tree in his pasture. From that grave has grown the Snow Cemetery.
Daddy is buried only a few yards from his great grandfather, Wiley.
(¯'•.•´¯) (¯'•.•´¯)
*'•.¸(¯'•.•´¯)¸.•´ ❀
۵۵۵۵۵۵ '•.¸.•´ ۵۵ ღ .¸¸.•´¯'♥
... In early 2009 my sister, Tamara and I 'adopted' a mile of Arkansas hi-way in memory of daddy. It's located on HWY 62 East, just east of the entrance to the Pea Ridge National Military Park, Pea Ridge, AR. Three or four times a year we 'pick up' daddy's mile. The first time was the roughtest. In a two mile stretch of road we picked up 13 bags of trash, a tire, a pillow, a bucket and half a truck bumper. Since then it's not been such a long day of trash gathering. It's something we do to pay tribute to a man that taught us to love and respect this earth that we live on.
...for all the many miles you walked for us, daddy, we'll now, every now and then, in your memory, walk a couple for you... with so much love, your girls!
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
poem written and added
to bio Oct. 14, 2008
For you Daddy...
I'll see you in the sunset
just at the horizon's edge
Your voice will come to me at dusk
in the moments before night falls
Support I'll feel from you
in the storm's raging roll
The thunder carries your spirit
as you ride the wild wind
I will feel your love come closer
as the Autumn leaves fall 'round me
I'll know your heart's song
as the breeze races 'cross the fields
The gold in each sunrise
will herald your spirit gone on ahead
The wisdom you taught me
lives on in my own child
I find so many parts of you
in all the ones you left behind
Reminders of the person you were
just there beyond the shadows
A shout within the heart
is but a whisper when put to song
Your songs live on within us
your stories, treasures of our soul
until we meet again…
I'll see you in the sunset
just at the horizon's edge
by Beverly Joe xOx
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when you left...
a piece of my heart went with you...
♥ಌڿڰۣಌ♥ L٥ﻻ ﻉ√٥υ f٥гﻉ√ﻉг ♥ಌڿڰۣಌ♥
Little did we know that day
that our Lord would call your name.
In life we loved you dearly,
in death we do the same.
It broke our hearts to lose you,
though you did not go alone,
for part of us went with you
the day God called you home.
Our family chain is broken
and nothing seems the same
but as God calls us one by one
the chain will link again
~ author unknown
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
The Little Ship
I stood watching as the little ship sailed out to sea.
The setting sun tinted his white sails with a golden light and as he disappeared from sight a voice at my side whispered, "He is gone".
But the sea was a narrow one. On the farther shore a little band of friends had gathered to watch and wait in happy expectation. Suddenly they caught sight of the tiny sail and at the very moment when my companion had whispered, "He is gone" a glad shout went up in joyous welcome, "Here he comes!"
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
If roses grow in Heaven, Lord,
please pick one for me,
place it in my daddy's hands
and tell him it's from me.
Tell him that we all love and miss him
and when he turns to smile,
place a kiss upon his cheek
and hold him for a while.
Because remembering him is easy,
all of us, his loved ones, do it every day.
But there's an ache within our hearts,
that will never, ever go away...
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
Sunshine fades and shadows fall,
But memories of you outlast them all.
Unseen, unheard, you're always near,
Still loved, still missed, still very dear.
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
Oh, I miss you so much
life will never be the same,
wish heaven had a phone
so I could hear your voice again.
I thought of you today,
but that is nothing new.
I thought about you yesterday
and days before that too.
I think of you in silence,
I often speak your name.
All I have are memories
and a picture in a frame.
Your memory is a keepsake
from which I'll never part.
God has you in his arms
I have you in my heart
~ author unknown
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
The Rose
~ by Bette Midler
Some say love, it is a river
That drowns the tender reed.
Some say love, it is a razor
That leaves your soul to bleed.
Some say love, it is a hunger,
An endless aching need.
I say love, it is a flower,
And you it's only seed.
It's the heart, afraid of breaking,
That never learns to dance.
It's the dream, afraid of waking,
That never takes a chance.
It's the one who won't be taken,
Who cannot seem to give.
And the soul, afraid of dyin',
That never learns to live.
When the night has been too lonely,
And the road has been too long,
And you think that love is only
For the lucky and the strong,
Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snows,
Lies the seed, that with the sun's love,
In the spring becomes the rose
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
...gently they go,
the beautiful,
the tender,
the kind...
I know.
But I do not approve.
I am not resigned...
~ by Edna St. Vincent Millay
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
"What was good, and what was ill,
what would save and what would kill.
Thus gone, amongst you I may live,
and dead, yet speak and counsel give.
Farewell, my birds, farewell, adieu,
I happy am, if well with you."
~ Anne Bradstreet
.❤¸.•*¨*❀*¨*•.¸¸❤¸.•*¨*❀*¨*•.¸¸❤.
❤❀ REMEMBERING A SPECIAL ANGEL ❀❤
.¸.•*¨*❤*¨*•.¸¸❀¸.•*¨*❤*¨*•.¸¸.
one of the songs daddy love play on his guitar and sing... Old Rugged Cross. take a few minutes and enjoy it with him...
loveyou daddy
3.9.2011
♥¸¸.•*¨*•.★.•*¨*•.¸¸♥
On April 5, 2011 one of daddy's first cousins passed away. Duel T. Ramsey. I left the following on Duel's memorial page and since daddy and Duel were always close, I wanted to leave it here on daddy's page also. Both of these men will be missed by their babies and many, many others...
♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡
╔══╗
╚╗╔╝
╔╝(¯'v´¯)
╚══'My Daddy
♥¸¸.•*¨*•.★.•*¨*•.¸¸♥
April 11, 2011
There are times I find myself thinking of Duel coming into the revenue with Ruby, of him always coming by to say hi or talk if we had a few minutes. I find myself crying... I know that mixed in there somewhere are tears for my own daddy. I know deep in my heart that I'm crying for eight babies that have lost their daddy... For me, my brothers and sister and Duel's four babies, Beverly, Barbara, Janet and Kirby. I'm crying for all of us.
As an adult my head understands the way life works... birth, childhood, adulthood, older years and death. Yes, my head understands, but my heart rages, 'NO!'. As my daddy's child, I want my daddy back. I don't want him to be gone. I want him to live forever. I WANT HIM BACK HERE WITH ME!!
I know daddy would tell me in his patient way, "Baby, you know that's not the way it works, I'm supposed to die before you, you're supposed to out-live me."
I know daddy but losing you hurts too much, even if I am an adult, it still hurts my 'little girl' heart.
I believe that daddy and Duel would both tell us that they have followed a path set down from ages past. They, in the natural order of things are meant to go on ahead of us. That's the way that they'd want it. That's the way they both lived their lives. They did their best to set a path for their babies to follow throughout their lives. Even in death they leave a trail for us to follow.
It reminds me of how daddy would lead us when we were kids. Specifically when we'd go to the cellar. He would always go ahead of us with the ole kerosene lantern. He knew the path to the cellar door by heart, he didn't need the light of the lantern nearly as much as us kids did. He'd go ahead a few steps and hold the lantern up and to the side so we'd be able to see the way to follow him, be able to see the path better in the dark, not stumble over a rock and maybe fall. And as long as he was moving, we were right behind him, trusting that he'd never, ever lead us on the wrong path or into something that would harm us. Mommie was always there behind us to make sure none of us strayed from the path, to reasure us to keep moving forward. Together they took us along a dark and sometimes scary path, through a raging storm, crashing thunder and blinding lightening to a place of safety, warmth and light.
The way they raised us was in their own way, a way of trying to show us a clear path also, to try and steer us clear of the storms of life. Sometimes I followed, sometimes I didn't, but I have always been able to look back and see that the path they'd 'lit' for me was always there, just sometimes I chose not to follow it.
I know that my Father in heaven did the same thing for Duel and daddy. He went ahead to make sure that the path was safe, that it was lit with a guiding light and if they stumbled He'd be there waiting when they righted themselves and started once more down the path He'd left for them. He prepared a place for them also.
I believe with all my heart that they are both in that wonderful, safe place, a place filled with so much love and light that as humans we can't conceive of its brilliance.
As humans we can only stand in faith and believe that the path daddy and Duel have left for us leads us on into a place of eternal safety, warmth and love.
Wait for us... with arms wide open... wait for us...
♥¸¸.•*¨*•.★.•*¨*•.¸¸♥
daddy loved this song and sang it a lot...
Enjoy, Peace In The Valley.
♥¸¸.•*¨*•.★.•*¨*•.¸¸♥
Daddy, sister and I picked up your mile today. It was kinda hot but as usual we had fun, a lot of laughs. That's one of the gifts you and mommie bestowed on all us kids, the gift of laughter, to find something amusing in most situations. What a wonderful legacy you've left to all of us. Loveyou daddy, xOx muah
May 22, 2011
♥¸¸.•*¨*•.★.•*¨*•.¸¸♥
You can shed tears that I am gone.
Or you can smile because I lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that I will come back
Or you can open your eyes and see all that I left.
Your heart can be empty because you can't see me
Or you can be full of the love we shared
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember me and only that I am gone
Or you can cherish my memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind,
be empty and turn your back
Or you can do what I'd want:
smile, open your eyes, love and go on.
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
♥ When they walk through the valley of weeping it will become a place of springs where pools of blessing and refreshment collect after rains ¸.•*♥ Psalms 84:6
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
ჱ♥ ჱ
˜"*°•♥•°*"˜
((¯'•♥•´¯)ჱ ❤✫ƸӜƷ ჱ
__'•.¸.•´_*●♥ ჱ ♥
╔╗╔╗╔╗╔═╦ ♥. .☆.......•*¨'*•
╠╣║║║╦╠═║✫ (¯''•.¸ //(*_*) ¸.•'´¯)
╝╚╩║╚╝╚═╚═╝❤✫ƸӜƷ *'• .…* * *.•
.•*"˜˜"*°•. ˜"*°•♥•°*"˜ .•°*"˜˜"*°•.
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
Twice as Much
I have felt the pain of heartache
in the days since you have passed
and never again will I take for granted
how long a life will last...
Each lifetime has a limit
from the date of its creation.
We only choose our life's direction,
not its beginning...or duration.
You lived and loved a lifetime
within the years that you were blessed,
and I mourn, because without you,
I now must live the rest.
It is I who suffer;
I who grieve.
You are gone, and now content.
And if you could,
I know you would
erase these tears I've spent.
It is I who loved so deeply
and so much of me, is you...
that when you left this earthly place,
a part of me left, too.
Though our hearts are joined forever,
linked by invisible chains,
the time has come for me to see
that much of "me" remains.
Every day you're in my head.
Every day you're in my heart.
Every morning through day's end,
you occupy a part.
We walked this earth together;
our lives are intertwined...
so I shall live this life I have
as two lifetimes...combined.
Twice as long, I'll gaze at sunsets.
Twice as many times, I'll laugh.
Twice as hard, I'll seize these moments
I now live on your behalf.
Twice as deeply, I will care.
Twice as tough, I'll bear the sorrow.
Twice as real I'll live each day
and thank God twice for each tomorrow.
Twice as strong I'll smell the roses.
Twice this vow, I will renew:
Until we meet again one day,
Twice As Much, I'll Live For You.
~ Linda Ellis
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
June 3, 2014
Daddy this is the first birthday that you and mommie have spent together in a few years. My heart is sad that she's no longer here, but I rejoice in the fact that, like you, she'll never know another moment of pain, no more confusion or fear. I know your reunion was such a joyous thing... one day I'll meet you both again. I loveyou, daddy, so, so much. You are missed, every day I miss you. XOX
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
Daddy, it's comin up on three months since mommie left us to join you.
The only thing that I can think of that eclipses my sadness of not having you both here with me, is the joy that I know in my heart that both of you have with being together again.
I can only imagine the smiles on your faces since your recent reunion!
I loveyou, daddy! ❤
7.17.2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
Daddy, I was thinking earlier of the many times in the cold Winter months, you'd set with one of us kids held snug in your arms, close enough to the woodstove to keep us warm as the chill of the cold outside moved in during the long night.
A lot of times you'd have a toothache and we'd have an earache.
I remember laying cuddled close to you with my 'hurting' ear against your chest, I'd drift off to sleep with the sound of your heartbeat filling my world...
You spent many nights holding, 'nusin', one of your babies as the two of us faced the night and tried to sleep through our pain.
I loveyou, daddy xox
9.20.2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
Just a couple of weeks ago sister and I were down home. We went to the home place where we grew up.
As I walked around the yard and room to room in the home that daddy and mommie built for all of us, built with love, with their own hands, every board, rock and chunk of concrete was put on that piece of land by those two people.
Daddy and mommie loved each other, they loved us kids, they loved their home and the life that, over the years they'd built from pretty much nothing. As I looked at all the things the hands of those two wonderful people had touched over all the years, I felt that somehow it's wrong for them to be gone and all the things they created to still be here. Not a rational thought maybe, but to me, as I touched the things they'd touched, I somehow wanted to trade... all those things for mommie and daddy. A fair trade I think.
October 2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
~What moves through us is a silence, a quiet sadness, a longing for one more day, one more word, one more touch, we may not understand why you left this earth so soon, or why you left before we were ready to say good-bye, but little by little, we begin to remember not just that you are gone, but that you lived. And that your life gave us memories too beautiful to forget~
~ Anonymous
11.8.2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
I Didn't Really Die
They say that life is fleeting
I know that this is true
I left this world so quickly
With no goodbye to you.
I know how much you miss me
Your tears fall ever light
The pillow where you lay your head
Is wet with them at night.
I know your heart is hurting
The words we left, unsaid
I love yous left unspoken
Are spinning in your head.
The strength that I have carried
That served to make you whole
Remains to make you stronger
Within your grieving soul.
For you see, while you were weeping
On the day I passed away
At the gravesite near the flowers
Where my loved ones knelt to pray.
An angel came to see me
She took me by the hand
She led me to a kingdom
In a very distant land.
As I look down from the heaven
And see you standing there
Your heart so ever burdened
With more weight than it can bear.
I long to bring you comfort
I long to give you peace
I long to hold you closely
Cause all your tears to cease.
The joy I've found in heaven
Goes far beyond compare
The love that's so elusive
Can be found here everywhere.
The light is softly shining
There's no storm clouds here or rain
There's no teardrops found in heaven
There's no suffering, there's no pain.
You needn't be so troubled
Stay close to God and pray
That someday we'll be together
One bright and glorious day.
So my beloved, you shouldn't question
My dear you need not cry
I've gone to be with Jesus
You see, I really didn't die.
~ unknown
daddy, I don't think we ever left an 'I love you' unsaid. We never missed the chance for one last hug, a kiss and an I loveyou...
I loveyou, daddy xox
11.13.2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
I asked a little Angel
that lives up in the sky,
"Why do we have tears
whenever we start to cry?"
The Angel answered, "Peace be Still,"
and I will tell you this:
When all the love is in your heart
and no more love will fit,
the extra love spills over
and tears begin to fall
Tears just mean you love them;
More than ever, Most of All
loveyou, daddy xox
11.26.2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
A few nights ago I was wrapping Christmas gifts and as I was taping the wrapping paper in place my mind drifted back to Christmases years ago.
There was never money for little extras, like tape and bows. The wrapping paper was carefully smoothed, folded and put away for use the next year. Daddy and mommie spent the extra money on things that mattered in our lives.
I remember opening gifts tied with string and sometimes mommie used her straight pins to hold the paper in place. We knew to keep the pins and not lose'em, because she didn't have the money to waste on replacing them. Those Christmas morning memories are golden now.
As soon as daddy would get up, build a fire and the house would get warm, we'd hurry outa bed and gather on the floor in front of the Christmas tree.
It was always a cedar that daddy had cut from near our home. It was decorated with a few 'store bought' decorations, but mostly ones we'd made ourselves. The foil tinsel was saved year to year and is still one of the brightest parts of my Christmas memories.
The whole house smelled of cedar and the food, cakes and pies, mommie had cooked in the preceding days. I can close my eyes and the memories are almost as rich as the aromas from those long ago days.
After our gifts were opened and our 'socks' were emptied we'd gather our prizes around us for a short time of checking out each others' goodies and enjoying our bounty.
In short order mommie would have breakfast ready. Always a wonderful country meal, one that I took for granted then but truly appreciate now. There'd be home-made biscuits, fried eggs, gravy, some kind of fried meat and lots of fresh cow's milk. The meat and eggs were grown there on our place and mommie kept the cow milked, so we always had as much fresh milk as we could drink.
And mommie always made 'chocolate' or chocolate gravy, as some call it. We'd mix it with fresh churned cow butter and 'sop' the biscuits in it for a mouthwatering finish to a wonderful meal.
This was pretty much an everyday breakfast for us but as I said earlier, I never appreciated it until much later.
This is the first year that I won't spend Christmas with either daddy or mommie, so it will be a lonely time in a sense. I know that they're together again and that gives me peace.
Thank you daddy and mommie for so many wonderful Christmas mornings and memories to treasure to the end.
I loveyou both and miss you so much.
Your baby, Beverly Joe XOX
12.24.2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
I got your adopt-a-hiway sign all fixed up with your and mommie's name on it, looks awesome!!
11.05.2016
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
09.19.2018
I heard your voice in the wind today
and I turned to see your face;
The warmth of the wind caressed me
as I stood silently in place.
I felt your touch in the sun today
as its warmth filled the sky;
I closed my eyes for your embrace
and my spirit soared high.
I saw your eyes in the window pane
as I watched the falling rain;
It seemed as each raindrop fell
it quietly said your name.
I held you close in my heart today
it made me feel complete;
You may have died...but you are not gone
you will always be a part of me.
As long as the sun shines...
the wind blows...
the rain falls...
You will live on inside of me forever
for that is all my heart knows.
loveyou, daddy xox
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
Daddy is the biological father of Freddie Waters
Freddie is my half brother.
He died Dec. 19, 2023, 18 years & 3 days after daddy.
I'd loved to have known Freddie better.
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
¸❤.·´ A MEMORIAL, A LOVING TRIBUTE
(¯'L´¯)✿
.'•.¸.•´(¯'O´¯)✿
******.'•.¸.•´(¯'V´¯)✿
...***********'•.¸.•´(¯'E´¯)
.........**************•.¸.•´
ಌڿڰۣಌ Love you daddy ಌڿڰۣಌ
Joe Wiley Vaughn was born June 3, 1918. He is the son of William Nelson Vaughn and Mary Sue (Snow) Vaughn. He married Rhoda Victoria Self on April 23, 1955 at Wayton, Arkansas.
They had four children together and he is survived by all of them, Beverly Joe, Franklin Dean, Clifton Wiley and Tamara Lynn. Also survived by his oldest child, born before Joe met and married Rhoda, is a son, Freddie Waters. He is also survived by nine grandchildren; Ricky and Ronald Waters, Tonka Myers, Micah and Darren Vaughn, Kortnie Clark, Kassi and Zach Vaughn and Byron Vaughn, ten great grandchildren; Trinity Myers, Shaylee, Stetson, Shalako and Sydney Grantham, Bailey and Logan House, Wiley Cockrum, Dalton and Taylor Vaughn.
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
Daddy lived all his life in Wayton, Arkansas, (Newton County) where he was an active member of the community.
He was an avid hunter and fisherman. He was a farmer and carpenter. When it came to making anything from nothing there was no one that could out-do him.
The concrete and native stone gateway at the Snow Cemetery where daddy is now buried was handmade by him, his dad, Will and one of his nephews.
He was a master story teller and could keep an audience of any age held captive with tales of his childhood and 'haint tales' passed on to him from his mom, my grannie Vaughn.
Daddy could be seen sitting for untold minutes as he would 'call' a quail to him. The male of the species would fly to within yards of Joe thinking he was courting a female.
Daddy played the guitar and loved to sing as he strummed out the tune. His favorites were the old cowboy ballads, Little Joe the Wrangler, Blood Stained Saddle, Ole Shep and gospel music, The Old Rugged Cross being one he sang often.
He was a longtime member of the Masonic Lodge, Buffalo Lodge #366, at Wayton, Arkansas, as was his father and paternal grandfather before him.
After giving his life to Jesus in the early 1980's, daddy wrote a song about his road to redemption. He named it "Mountain of Love". It tells of his struggle to find the right way to ask God for forgiveness and the gracious amount of love and forgiveness he received once he finally knealed at the alter and prayed the one prayer that would set him free.
In daddy's last weeks of life, as he was tended by his wife, Rhoda, my mommie, he asked her several times if she could hear the beautiful singing. She never did, but he insisted he could hear 'the most beautiful singing' passing above him as he lay on his bed.After his death, we as a family, agreed that he had been hearing a heavenly choir calling him home. We thought it appropriate that this be put on his stone, as there could never be a more fitting epitaph than one he'd repeated over and over during his last days on this earth.
At daddy's funeral service, his song, 'Mountain of Love' was sung, as was 'Daddy's Hands'.
Daddy left to find the singing on December 16, 2005. He passed away at Jasper, Arkansas. He was buried in the Snow Cemetery at Wayton, Arkansas on December 20, 2005.
"Daddy said he heard the most beautiful singing, now he's gone home to find it."
Daddy's maternal great grandfather, Wiley Snow, was the first person buried in what was to become the cemetery. During Wiley's life he requested that when he died that he be buried under a big Walnut tree in his pasture. From that grave has grown the Snow Cemetery.
Daddy is buried only a few yards from his great grandfather, Wiley.
(¯'•.•´¯) (¯'•.•´¯)
*'•.¸(¯'•.•´¯)¸.•´ ❀
۵۵۵۵۵۵ '•.¸.•´ ۵۵ ღ .¸¸.•´¯'♥
... In early 2009 my sister, Tamara and I 'adopted' a mile of Arkansas hi-way in memory of daddy. It's located on HWY 62 East, just east of the entrance to the Pea Ridge National Military Park, Pea Ridge, AR. Three or four times a year we 'pick up' daddy's mile. The first time was the roughtest. In a two mile stretch of road we picked up 13 bags of trash, a tire, a pillow, a bucket and half a truck bumper. Since then it's not been such a long day of trash gathering. It's something we do to pay tribute to a man that taught us to love and respect this earth that we live on.
...for all the many miles you walked for us, daddy, we'll now, every now and then, in your memory, walk a couple for you... with so much love, your girls!
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
poem written and added
to bio Oct. 14, 2008
For you Daddy...
I'll see you in the sunset
just at the horizon's edge
Your voice will come to me at dusk
in the moments before night falls
Support I'll feel from you
in the storm's raging roll
The thunder carries your spirit
as you ride the wild wind
I will feel your love come closer
as the Autumn leaves fall 'round me
I'll know your heart's song
as the breeze races 'cross the fields
The gold in each sunrise
will herald your spirit gone on ahead
The wisdom you taught me
lives on in my own child
I find so many parts of you
in all the ones you left behind
Reminders of the person you were
just there beyond the shadows
A shout within the heart
is but a whisper when put to song
Your songs live on within us
your stories, treasures of our soul
until we meet again…
I'll see you in the sunset
just at the horizon's edge
by Beverly Joe xOx
────(♥)(♥)(♥)────(♥)(♥)(♥)
──(♥)██████(♥)(♥)██████(♥)
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─(♥)█████████████_████(♥)
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──────(♥)████████(♥)
────────(♥)████(♥)
─────────(♥)██(♥)
───────────(♥)
when you left...
a piece of my heart went with you...
♥ಌڿڰۣಌ♥ L٥ﻻ ﻉ√٥υ f٥гﻉ√ﻉг ♥ಌڿڰۣಌ♥
Little did we know that day
that our Lord would call your name.
In life we loved you dearly,
in death we do the same.
It broke our hearts to lose you,
though you did not go alone,
for part of us went with you
the day God called you home.
Our family chain is broken
and nothing seems the same
but as God calls us one by one
the chain will link again
~ author unknown
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
The Little Ship
I stood watching as the little ship sailed out to sea.
The setting sun tinted his white sails with a golden light and as he disappeared from sight a voice at my side whispered, "He is gone".
But the sea was a narrow one. On the farther shore a little band of friends had gathered to watch and wait in happy expectation. Suddenly they caught sight of the tiny sail and at the very moment when my companion had whispered, "He is gone" a glad shout went up in joyous welcome, "Here he comes!"
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
If roses grow in Heaven, Lord,
please pick one for me,
place it in my daddy's hands
and tell him it's from me.
Tell him that we all love and miss him
and when he turns to smile,
place a kiss upon his cheek
and hold him for a while.
Because remembering him is easy,
all of us, his loved ones, do it every day.
But there's an ache within our hearts,
that will never, ever go away...
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
Sunshine fades and shadows fall,
But memories of you outlast them all.
Unseen, unheard, you're always near,
Still loved, still missed, still very dear.
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
Oh, I miss you so much
life will never be the same,
wish heaven had a phone
so I could hear your voice again.
I thought of you today,
but that is nothing new.
I thought about you yesterday
and days before that too.
I think of you in silence,
I often speak your name.
All I have are memories
and a picture in a frame.
Your memory is a keepsake
from which I'll never part.
God has you in his arms
I have you in my heart
~ author unknown
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
The Rose
~ by Bette Midler
Some say love, it is a river
That drowns the tender reed.
Some say love, it is a razor
That leaves your soul to bleed.
Some say love, it is a hunger,
An endless aching need.
I say love, it is a flower,
And you it's only seed.
It's the heart, afraid of breaking,
That never learns to dance.
It's the dream, afraid of waking,
That never takes a chance.
It's the one who won't be taken,
Who cannot seem to give.
And the soul, afraid of dyin',
That never learns to live.
When the night has been too lonely,
And the road has been too long,
And you think that love is only
For the lucky and the strong,
Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snows,
Lies the seed, that with the sun's love,
In the spring becomes the rose
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
...gently they go,
the beautiful,
the tender,
the kind...
I know.
But I do not approve.
I am not resigned...
~ by Edna St. Vincent Millay
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
"What was good, and what was ill,
what would save and what would kill.
Thus gone, amongst you I may live,
and dead, yet speak and counsel give.
Farewell, my birds, farewell, adieu,
I happy am, if well with you."
~ Anne Bradstreet
.❤¸.•*¨*❀*¨*•.¸¸❤¸.•*¨*❀*¨*•.¸¸❤.
❤❀ REMEMBERING A SPECIAL ANGEL ❀❤
.¸.•*¨*❤*¨*•.¸¸❀¸.•*¨*❤*¨*•.¸¸.
one of the songs daddy love play on his guitar and sing... Old Rugged Cross. take a few minutes and enjoy it with him...
loveyou daddy
3.9.2011
♥¸¸.•*¨*•.★.•*¨*•.¸¸♥
On April 5, 2011 one of daddy's first cousins passed away. Duel T. Ramsey. I left the following on Duel's memorial page and since daddy and Duel were always close, I wanted to leave it here on daddy's page also. Both of these men will be missed by their babies and many, many others...
♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡
╔══╗
╚╗╔╝
╔╝(¯'v´¯)
╚══'My Daddy
♥¸¸.•*¨*•.★.•*¨*•.¸¸♥
April 11, 2011
There are times I find myself thinking of Duel coming into the revenue with Ruby, of him always coming by to say hi or talk if we had a few minutes. I find myself crying... I know that mixed in there somewhere are tears for my own daddy. I know deep in my heart that I'm crying for eight babies that have lost their daddy... For me, my brothers and sister and Duel's four babies, Beverly, Barbara, Janet and Kirby. I'm crying for all of us.
As an adult my head understands the way life works... birth, childhood, adulthood, older years and death. Yes, my head understands, but my heart rages, 'NO!'. As my daddy's child, I want my daddy back. I don't want him to be gone. I want him to live forever. I WANT HIM BACK HERE WITH ME!!
I know daddy would tell me in his patient way, "Baby, you know that's not the way it works, I'm supposed to die before you, you're supposed to out-live me."
I know daddy but losing you hurts too much, even if I am an adult, it still hurts my 'little girl' heart.
I believe that daddy and Duel would both tell us that they have followed a path set down from ages past. They, in the natural order of things are meant to go on ahead of us. That's the way that they'd want it. That's the way they both lived their lives. They did their best to set a path for their babies to follow throughout their lives. Even in death they leave a trail for us to follow.
It reminds me of how daddy would lead us when we were kids. Specifically when we'd go to the cellar. He would always go ahead of us with the ole kerosene lantern. He knew the path to the cellar door by heart, he didn't need the light of the lantern nearly as much as us kids did. He'd go ahead a few steps and hold the lantern up and to the side so we'd be able to see the way to follow him, be able to see the path better in the dark, not stumble over a rock and maybe fall. And as long as he was moving, we were right behind him, trusting that he'd never, ever lead us on the wrong path or into something that would harm us. Mommie was always there behind us to make sure none of us strayed from the path, to reasure us to keep moving forward. Together they took us along a dark and sometimes scary path, through a raging storm, crashing thunder and blinding lightening to a place of safety, warmth and light.
The way they raised us was in their own way, a way of trying to show us a clear path also, to try and steer us clear of the storms of life. Sometimes I followed, sometimes I didn't, but I have always been able to look back and see that the path they'd 'lit' for me was always there, just sometimes I chose not to follow it.
I know that my Father in heaven did the same thing for Duel and daddy. He went ahead to make sure that the path was safe, that it was lit with a guiding light and if they stumbled He'd be there waiting when they righted themselves and started once more down the path He'd left for them. He prepared a place for them also.
I believe with all my heart that they are both in that wonderful, safe place, a place filled with so much love and light that as humans we can't conceive of its brilliance.
As humans we can only stand in faith and believe that the path daddy and Duel have left for us leads us on into a place of eternal safety, warmth and love.
Wait for us... with arms wide open... wait for us...
♥¸¸.•*¨*•.★.•*¨*•.¸¸♥
daddy loved this song and sang it a lot...
Enjoy, Peace In The Valley.
♥¸¸.•*¨*•.★.•*¨*•.¸¸♥
Daddy, sister and I picked up your mile today. It was kinda hot but as usual we had fun, a lot of laughs. That's one of the gifts you and mommie bestowed on all us kids, the gift of laughter, to find something amusing in most situations. What a wonderful legacy you've left to all of us. Loveyou daddy, xOx muah
May 22, 2011
♥¸¸.•*¨*•.★.•*¨*•.¸¸♥
You can shed tears that I am gone.
Or you can smile because I lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that I will come back
Or you can open your eyes and see all that I left.
Your heart can be empty because you can't see me
Or you can be full of the love we shared
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember me and only that I am gone
Or you can cherish my memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind,
be empty and turn your back
Or you can do what I'd want:
smile, open your eyes, love and go on.
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
♥ When they walk through the valley of weeping it will become a place of springs where pools of blessing and refreshment collect after rains ¸.•*♥ Psalms 84:6
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
ჱ♥ ჱ
˜"*°•♥•°*"˜
((¯'•♥•´¯)ჱ ❤✫ƸӜƷ ჱ
__'•.¸.•´_*●♥ ჱ ♥
╔╗╔╗╔╗╔═╦ ♥. .☆.......•*¨'*•
╠╣║║║╦╠═║✫ (¯''•.¸ //(*_*) ¸.•'´¯)
╝╚╩║╚╝╚═╚═╝❤✫ƸӜƷ *'• .…* * *.•
.•*"˜˜"*°•. ˜"*°•♥•°*"˜ .•°*"˜˜"*°•.
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
Twice as Much
I have felt the pain of heartache
in the days since you have passed
and never again will I take for granted
how long a life will last...
Each lifetime has a limit
from the date of its creation.
We only choose our life's direction,
not its beginning...or duration.
You lived and loved a lifetime
within the years that you were blessed,
and I mourn, because without you,
I now must live the rest.
It is I who suffer;
I who grieve.
You are gone, and now content.
And if you could,
I know you would
erase these tears I've spent.
It is I who loved so deeply
and so much of me, is you...
that when you left this earthly place,
a part of me left, too.
Though our hearts are joined forever,
linked by invisible chains,
the time has come for me to see
that much of "me" remains.
Every day you're in my head.
Every day you're in my heart.
Every morning through day's end,
you occupy a part.
We walked this earth together;
our lives are intertwined...
so I shall live this life I have
as two lifetimes...combined.
Twice as long, I'll gaze at sunsets.
Twice as many times, I'll laugh.
Twice as hard, I'll seize these moments
I now live on your behalf.
Twice as deeply, I will care.
Twice as tough, I'll bear the sorrow.
Twice as real I'll live each day
and thank God twice for each tomorrow.
Twice as strong I'll smell the roses.
Twice this vow, I will renew:
Until we meet again one day,
Twice As Much, I'll Live For You.
~ Linda Ellis
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
June 3, 2014
Daddy this is the first birthday that you and mommie have spent together in a few years. My heart is sad that she's no longer here, but I rejoice in the fact that, like you, she'll never know another moment of pain, no more confusion or fear. I know your reunion was such a joyous thing... one day I'll meet you both again. I loveyou, daddy, so, so much. You are missed, every day I miss you. XOX
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
Daddy, it's comin up on three months since mommie left us to join you.
The only thing that I can think of that eclipses my sadness of not having you both here with me, is the joy that I know in my heart that both of you have with being together again.
I can only imagine the smiles on your faces since your recent reunion!
I loveyou, daddy! ❤
7.17.2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
Daddy, I was thinking earlier of the many times in the cold Winter months, you'd set with one of us kids held snug in your arms, close enough to the woodstove to keep us warm as the chill of the cold outside moved in during the long night.
A lot of times you'd have a toothache and we'd have an earache.
I remember laying cuddled close to you with my 'hurting' ear against your chest, I'd drift off to sleep with the sound of your heartbeat filling my world...
You spent many nights holding, 'nusin', one of your babies as the two of us faced the night and tried to sleep through our pain.
I loveyou, daddy xox
9.20.2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
Just a couple of weeks ago sister and I were down home. We went to the home place where we grew up.
As I walked around the yard and room to room in the home that daddy and mommie built for all of us, built with love, with their own hands, every board, rock and chunk of concrete was put on that piece of land by those two people.
Daddy and mommie loved each other, they loved us kids, they loved their home and the life that, over the years they'd built from pretty much nothing. As I looked at all the things the hands of those two wonderful people had touched over all the years, I felt that somehow it's wrong for them to be gone and all the things they created to still be here. Not a rational thought maybe, but to me, as I touched the things they'd touched, I somehow wanted to trade... all those things for mommie and daddy. A fair trade I think.
October 2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
~What moves through us is a silence, a quiet sadness, a longing for one more day, one more word, one more touch, we may not understand why you left this earth so soon, or why you left before we were ready to say good-bye, but little by little, we begin to remember not just that you are gone, but that you lived. And that your life gave us memories too beautiful to forget~
~ Anonymous
11.8.2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
I Didn't Really Die
They say that life is fleeting
I know that this is true
I left this world so quickly
With no goodbye to you.
I know how much you miss me
Your tears fall ever light
The pillow where you lay your head
Is wet with them at night.
I know your heart is hurting
The words we left, unsaid
I love yous left unspoken
Are spinning in your head.
The strength that I have carried
That served to make you whole
Remains to make you stronger
Within your grieving soul.
For you see, while you were weeping
On the day I passed away
At the gravesite near the flowers
Where my loved ones knelt to pray.
An angel came to see me
She took me by the hand
She led me to a kingdom
In a very distant land.
As I look down from the heaven
And see you standing there
Your heart so ever burdened
With more weight than it can bear.
I long to bring you comfort
I long to give you peace
I long to hold you closely
Cause all your tears to cease.
The joy I've found in heaven
Goes far beyond compare
The love that's so elusive
Can be found here everywhere.
The light is softly shining
There's no storm clouds here or rain
There's no teardrops found in heaven
There's no suffering, there's no pain.
You needn't be so troubled
Stay close to God and pray
That someday we'll be together
One bright and glorious day.
So my beloved, you shouldn't question
My dear you need not cry
I've gone to be with Jesus
You see, I really didn't die.
~ unknown
daddy, I don't think we ever left an 'I love you' unsaid. We never missed the chance for one last hug, a kiss and an I loveyou...
I loveyou, daddy xox
11.13.2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
I asked a little Angel
that lives up in the sky,
"Why do we have tears
whenever we start to cry?"
The Angel answered, "Peace be Still,"
and I will tell you this:
When all the love is in your heart
and no more love will fit,
the extra love spills over
and tears begin to fall
Tears just mean you love them;
More than ever, Most of All
loveyou, daddy xox
11.26.2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
A few nights ago I was wrapping Christmas gifts and as I was taping the wrapping paper in place my mind drifted back to Christmases years ago.
There was never money for little extras, like tape and bows. The wrapping paper was carefully smoothed, folded and put away for use the next year. Daddy and mommie spent the extra money on things that mattered in our lives.
I remember opening gifts tied with string and sometimes mommie used her straight pins to hold the paper in place. We knew to keep the pins and not lose'em, because she didn't have the money to waste on replacing them. Those Christmas morning memories are golden now.
As soon as daddy would get up, build a fire and the house would get warm, we'd hurry outa bed and gather on the floor in front of the Christmas tree.
It was always a cedar that daddy had cut from near our home. It was decorated with a few 'store bought' decorations, but mostly ones we'd made ourselves. The foil tinsel was saved year to year and is still one of the brightest parts of my Christmas memories.
The whole house smelled of cedar and the food, cakes and pies, mommie had cooked in the preceding days. I can close my eyes and the memories are almost as rich as the aromas from those long ago days.
After our gifts were opened and our 'socks' were emptied we'd gather our prizes around us for a short time of checking out each others' goodies and enjoying our bounty.
In short order mommie would have breakfast ready. Always a wonderful country meal, one that I took for granted then but truly appreciate now. There'd be home-made biscuits, fried eggs, gravy, some kind of fried meat and lots of fresh cow's milk. The meat and eggs were grown there on our place and mommie kept the cow milked, so we always had as much fresh milk as we could drink.
And mommie always made 'chocolate' or chocolate gravy, as some call it. We'd mix it with fresh churned cow butter and 'sop' the biscuits in it for a mouthwatering finish to a wonderful meal.
This was pretty much an everyday breakfast for us but as I said earlier, I never appreciated it until much later.
This is the first year that I won't spend Christmas with either daddy or mommie, so it will be a lonely time in a sense. I know that they're together again and that gives me peace.
Thank you daddy and mommie for so many wonderful Christmas mornings and memories to treasure to the end.
I loveyou both and miss you so much.
Your baby, Beverly Joe XOX
12.24.2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
I got your adopt-a-hiway sign all fixed up with your and mommie's name on it, looks awesome!!
11.05.2016
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
09.19.2018
I heard your voice in the wind today
and I turned to see your face;
The warmth of the wind caressed me
as I stood silently in place.
I felt your touch in the sun today
as its warmth filled the sky;
I closed my eyes for your embrace
and my spirit soared high.
I saw your eyes in the window pane
as I watched the falling rain;
It seemed as each raindrop fell
it quietly said your name.
I held you close in my heart today
it made me feel complete;
You may have died...but you are not gone
you will always be a part of me.
As long as the sun shines...
the wind blows...
the rain falls...
You will live on inside of me forever
for that is all my heart knows.
loveyou, daddy xox
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
Daddy is the biological father of Freddie Waters
Freddie is my half brother.
He died Dec. 19, 2023, 18 years & 3 days after daddy.
I'd loved to have known Freddie better.
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
¸.· ´¸.·*´¨❤¸.·*¨¨*•¨*•.¸¸¸.·*´¨❤
¸❤.·´ A MEMORIAL, A LOVING TRIBUTE
(¯'L´¯)✿
.'•.¸.•´(¯'O´¯)✿
******.'•.¸.•´(¯'V´¯)✿
...***********'•.¸.•´(¯'E´¯)
.........**************•.¸.•´
ಌڿڰۣಌ Love you daddy ಌڿڰۣಌ
Joe Wiley Vaughn was born June 3, 1918. He is the son of William Nelson Vaughn and Mary Sue (Snow) Vaughn. He married Rhoda Victoria Self on April 23, 1955 at Wayton, Arkansas.
They had four children together and he is survived by all of them, Beverly Joe, Franklin Dean, Clifton Wiley and Tamara Lynn. Also survived by his oldest child, born before Joe met and married Rhoda, is a son, Freddie Waters. He is also survived by nine grandchildren; Ricky and Ronald Waters, Tonka Myers, Micah and Darren Vaughn, Kortnie Clark, Kassi and Zach Vaughn and Byron Vaughn, ten great grandchildren; Trinity Myers, Shaylee, Stetson, Shalako and Sydney Grantham, Bailey and Logan House, Wiley Cockrum, Dalton and Taylor Vaughn.
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
Daddy lived all his life in Wayton, Arkansas, (Newton County) where he was an active member of the community.
He was an avid hunter and fisherman. He was a farmer and carpenter. When it came to making anything from nothing there was no one that could out-do him.
The concrete and native stone gateway at the Snow Cemetery where daddy is now buried was handmade by him, his dad, Will and one of his nephews.
He was a master story teller and could keep an audience of any age held captive with tales of his childhood and 'haint tales' passed on to him from his mom, my grannie Vaughn.
Daddy could be seen sitting for untold minutes as he would 'call' a quail to him. The male of the species would fly to within yards of Joe thinking he was courting a female.
Daddy played the guitar and loved to sing as he strummed out the tune. His favorites were the old cowboy ballads, Little Joe the Wrangler, Blood Stained Saddle, Ole Shep and gospel music, The Old Rugged Cross being one he sang often.
He was a longtime member of the Masonic Lodge, Buffalo Lodge #366, at Wayton, Arkansas, as was his father and paternal grandfather before him.
After giving his life to Jesus in the early 1980's, daddy wrote a song about his road to redemption. He named it "Mountain of Love". It tells of his struggle to find the right way to ask God for forgiveness and the gracious amount of love and forgiveness he received once he finally knealed at the alter and prayed the one prayer that would set him free.
In daddy's last weeks of life, as he was tended by his wife, Rhoda, my mommie, he asked her several times if she could hear the beautiful singing. She never did, but he insisted he could hear 'the most beautiful singing' passing above him as he lay on his bed.After his death, we as a family, agreed that he had been hearing a heavenly choir calling him home. We thought it appropriate that this be put on his stone, as there could never be a more fitting epitaph than one he'd repeated over and over during his last days on this earth.
At daddy's funeral service, his song, 'Mountain of Love' was sung, as was 'Daddy's Hands'.
Daddy left to find the singing on December 16, 2005. He passed away at Jasper, Arkansas. He was buried in the Snow Cemetery at Wayton, Arkansas on December 20, 2005.
"Daddy said he heard the most beautiful singing, now he's gone home to find it."
Daddy's maternal great grandfather, Wiley Snow, was the first person buried in what was to become the cemetery. During Wiley's life he requested that when he died that he be buried under a big Walnut tree in his pasture. From that grave has grown the Snow Cemetery.
Daddy is buried only a few yards from his great grandfather, Wiley.
(¯'•.•´¯) (¯'•.•´¯)
*'•.¸(¯'•.•´¯)¸.•´ ❀
۵۵۵۵۵۵ '•.¸.•´ ۵۵ ღ .¸¸.•´¯'♥
... In early 2009 my sister, Tamara and I 'adopted' a mile of Arkansas hi-way in memory of daddy. It's located on HWY 62 East, just east of the entrance to the Pea Ridge National Military Park, Pea Ridge, AR. Three or four times a year we 'pick up' daddy's mile. The first time was the roughtest. In a two mile stretch of road we picked up 13 bags of trash, a tire, a pillow, a bucket and half a truck bumper. Since then it's not been such a long day of trash gathering. It's something we do to pay tribute to a man that taught us to love and respect this earth that we live on.
...for all the many miles you walked for us, daddy, we'll now, every now and then, in your memory, walk a couple for you... with so much love, your girls!
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
poem written and added
to bio Oct. 14, 2008
For you Daddy...
I'll see you in the sunset
just at the horizon's edge
Your voice will come to me at dusk
in the moments before night falls
Support I'll feel from you
in the storm's raging roll
The thunder carries your spirit
as you ride the wild wind
I will feel your love come closer
as the Autumn leaves fall 'round me
I'll know your heart's song
as the breeze races 'cross the fields
The gold in each sunrise
will herald your spirit gone on ahead
The wisdom you taught me
lives on in my own child
I find so many parts of you
in all the ones you left behind
Reminders of the person you were
just there beyond the shadows
A shout within the heart
is but a whisper when put to song
Your songs live on within us
your stories, treasures of our soul
until we meet again…
I'll see you in the sunset
just at the horizon's edge
by Beverly Joe xOx
────(♥)(♥)(♥)────(♥)(♥)(♥)
──(♥)██████(♥)(♥)██████(♥)
─(♥)████████(♥)████████(♥)
─(♥)█████████████_████(♥)
──(♥)████████████████(♥)
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──────(♥)████████(♥)
────────(♥)████(♥)
─────────(♥)██(♥)
───────────(♥)
when you left...
a piece of my heart went with you...
♥ಌڿڰۣಌ♥ L٥ﻻ ﻉ√٥υ f٥гﻉ√ﻉг ♥ಌڿڰۣಌ♥
Little did we know that day
that our Lord would call your name.
In life we loved you dearly,
in death we do the same.
It broke our hearts to lose you,
though you did not go alone,
for part of us went with you
the day God called you home.
Our family chain is broken
and nothing seems the same
but as God calls us one by one
the chain will link again
~ author unknown
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
The Little Ship
I stood watching as the little ship sailed out to sea.
The setting sun tinted his white sails with a golden light and as he disappeared from sight a voice at my side whispered, "He is gone".
But the sea was a narrow one. On the farther shore a little band of friends had gathered to watch and wait in happy expectation. Suddenly they caught sight of the tiny sail and at the very moment when my companion had whispered, "He is gone" a glad shout went up in joyous welcome, "Here he comes!"
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
If roses grow in Heaven, Lord,
please pick one for me,
place it in my daddy's hands
and tell him it's from me.
Tell him that we all love and miss him
and when he turns to smile,
place a kiss upon his cheek
and hold him for a while.
Because remembering him is easy,
all of us, his loved ones, do it every day.
But there's an ache within our hearts,
that will never, ever go away...
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
Sunshine fades and shadows fall,
But memories of you outlast them all.
Unseen, unheard, you're always near,
Still loved, still missed, still very dear.
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
Oh, I miss you so much
life will never be the same,
wish heaven had a phone
so I could hear your voice again.
I thought of you today,
but that is nothing new.
I thought about you yesterday
and days before that too.
I think of you in silence,
I often speak your name.
All I have are memories
and a picture in a frame.
Your memory is a keepsake
from which I'll never part.
God has you in his arms
I have you in my heart
~ author unknown
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
The Rose
~ by Bette Midler
Some say love, it is a river
That drowns the tender reed.
Some say love, it is a razor
That leaves your soul to bleed.
Some say love, it is a hunger,
An endless aching need.
I say love, it is a flower,
And you it's only seed.
It's the heart, afraid of breaking,
That never learns to dance.
It's the dream, afraid of waking,
That never takes a chance.
It's the one who won't be taken,
Who cannot seem to give.
And the soul, afraid of dyin',
That never learns to live.
When the night has been too lonely,
And the road has been too long,
And you think that love is only
For the lucky and the strong,
Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snows,
Lies the seed, that with the sun's love,
In the spring becomes the rose
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
...gently they go,
the beautiful,
the tender,
the kind...
I know.
But I do not approve.
I am not resigned...
~ by Edna St. Vincent Millay
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
"What was good, and what was ill,
what would save and what would kill.
Thus gone, amongst you I may live,
and dead, yet speak and counsel give.
Farewell, my birds, farewell, adieu,
I happy am, if well with you."
~ Anne Bradstreet
.❤¸.•*¨*❀*¨*•.¸¸❤¸.•*¨*❀*¨*•.¸¸❤.
❤❀ REMEMBERING A SPECIAL ANGEL ❀❤
.¸.•*¨*❤*¨*•.¸¸❀¸.•*¨*❤*¨*•.¸¸.
one of the songs daddy love play on his guitar and sing... Old Rugged Cross. take a few minutes and enjoy it with him...
loveyou daddy
3.9.2011
♥¸¸.•*¨*•.★.•*¨*•.¸¸♥
On April 5, 2011 one of daddy's first cousins passed away. Duel T. Ramsey. I left the following on Duel's memorial page and since daddy and Duel were always close, I wanted to leave it here on daddy's page also. Both of these men will be missed by their babies and many, many others...
♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡
╔══╗
╚╗╔╝
╔╝(¯'v´¯)
╚══'My Daddy
♥¸¸.•*¨*•.★.•*¨*•.¸¸♥
April 11, 2011
There are times I find myself thinking of Duel coming into the revenue with Ruby, of him always coming by to say hi or talk if we had a few minutes. I find myself crying... I know that mixed in there somewhere are tears for my own daddy. I know deep in my heart that I'm crying for eight babies that have lost their daddy... For me, my brothers and sister and Duel's four babies, Beverly, Barbara, Janet and Kirby. I'm crying for all of us.
As an adult my head understands the way life works... birth, childhood, adulthood, older years and death. Yes, my head understands, but my heart rages, 'NO!'. As my daddy's child, I want my daddy back. I don't want him to be gone. I want him to live forever. I WANT HIM BACK HERE WITH ME!!
I know daddy would tell me in his patient way, "Baby, you know that's not the way it works, I'm supposed to die before you, you're supposed to out-live me."
I know daddy but losing you hurts too much, even if I am an adult, it still hurts my 'little girl' heart.
I believe that daddy and Duel would both tell us that they have followed a path set down from ages past. They, in the natural order of things are meant to go on ahead of us. That's the way that they'd want it. That's the way they both lived their lives. They did their best to set a path for their babies to follow throughout their lives. Even in death they leave a trail for us to follow.
It reminds me of how daddy would lead us when we were kids. Specifically when we'd go to the cellar. He would always go ahead of us with the ole kerosene lantern. He knew the path to the cellar door by heart, he didn't need the light of the lantern nearly as much as us kids did. He'd go ahead a few steps and hold the lantern up and to the side so we'd be able to see the way to follow him, be able to see the path better in the dark, not stumble over a rock and maybe fall. And as long as he was moving, we were right behind him, trusting that he'd never, ever lead us on the wrong path or into something that would harm us. Mommie was always there behind us to make sure none of us strayed from the path, to reasure us to keep moving forward. Together they took us along a dark and sometimes scary path, through a raging storm, crashing thunder and blinding lightening to a place of safety, warmth and light.
The way they raised us was in their own way, a way of trying to show us a clear path also, to try and steer us clear of the storms of life. Sometimes I followed, sometimes I didn't, but I have always been able to look back and see that the path they'd 'lit' for me was always there, just sometimes I chose not to follow it.
I know that my Father in heaven did the same thing for Duel and daddy. He went ahead to make sure that the path was safe, that it was lit with a guiding light and if they stumbled He'd be there waiting when they righted themselves and started once more down the path He'd left for them. He prepared a place for them also.
I believe with all my heart that they are both in that wonderful, safe place, a place filled with so much love and light that as humans we can't conceive of its brilliance.
As humans we can only stand in faith and believe that the path daddy and Duel have left for us leads us on into a place of eternal safety, warmth and love.
Wait for us... with arms wide open... wait for us...
♥¸¸.•*¨*•.★.•*¨*•.¸¸♥
daddy loved this song and sang it a lot...
Enjoy, Peace In The Valley.
♥¸¸.•*¨*•.★.•*¨*•.¸¸♥
Daddy, sister and I picked up your mile today. It was kinda hot but as usual we had fun, a lot of laughs. That's one of the gifts you and mommie bestowed on all us kids, the gift of laughter, to find something amusing in most situations. What a wonderful legacy you've left to all of us. Loveyou daddy, xOx muah
May 22, 2011
♥¸¸.•*¨*•.★.•*¨*•.¸¸♥
You can shed tears that I am gone.
Or you can smile because I lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that I will come back
Or you can open your eyes and see all that I left.
Your heart can be empty because you can't see me
Or you can be full of the love we shared
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember me and only that I am gone
Or you can cherish my memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind,
be empty and turn your back
Or you can do what I'd want:
smile, open your eyes, love and go on.
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
♥ When they walk through the valley of weeping it will become a place of springs where pools of blessing and refreshment collect after rains ¸.•*♥ Psalms 84:6
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ჱ♥ ჱ
˜"*°•♥•°*"˜
((¯'•♥•´¯)ჱ ❤✫ƸӜƷ ჱ
__'•.¸.•´_*●♥ ჱ ♥
╔╗╔╗╔╗╔═╦ ♥. .☆.......•*¨'*•
╠╣║║║╦╠═║✫ (¯''•.¸ //(*_*) ¸.•'´¯)
╝╚╩║╚╝╚═╚═╝❤✫ƸӜƷ *'• .…* * *.•
.•*"˜˜"*°•. ˜"*°•♥•°*"˜ .•°*"˜˜"*°•.
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
Twice as Much
I have felt the pain of heartache
in the days since you have passed
and never again will I take for granted
how long a life will last...
Each lifetime has a limit
from the date of its creation.
We only choose our life's direction,
not its beginning...or duration.
You lived and loved a lifetime
within the years that you were blessed,
and I mourn, because without you,
I now must live the rest.
It is I who suffer;
I who grieve.
You are gone, and now content.
And if you could,
I know you would
erase these tears I've spent.
It is I who loved so deeply
and so much of me, is you...
that when you left this earthly place,
a part of me left, too.
Though our hearts are joined forever,
linked by invisible chains,
the time has come for me to see
that much of "me" remains.
Every day you're in my head.
Every day you're in my heart.
Every morning through day's end,
you occupy a part.
We walked this earth together;
our lives are intertwined...
so I shall live this life I have
as two lifetimes...combined.
Twice as long, I'll gaze at sunsets.
Twice as many times, I'll laugh.
Twice as hard, I'll seize these moments
I now live on your behalf.
Twice as deeply, I will care.
Twice as tough, I'll bear the sorrow.
Twice as real I'll live each day
and thank God twice for each tomorrow.
Twice as strong I'll smell the roses.
Twice this vow, I will renew:
Until we meet again one day,
Twice As Much, I'll Live For You.
~ Linda Ellis
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
June 3, 2014
Daddy this is the first birthday that you and mommie have spent together in a few years. My heart is sad that she's no longer here, but I rejoice in the fact that, like you, she'll never know another moment of pain, no more confusion or fear. I know your reunion was such a joyous thing... one day I'll meet you both again. I loveyou, daddy, so, so much. You are missed, every day I miss you. XOX
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
Daddy, it's comin up on three months since mommie left us to join you.
The only thing that I can think of that eclipses my sadness of not having you both here with me, is the joy that I know in my heart that both of you have with being together again.
I can only imagine the smiles on your faces since your recent reunion!
I loveyou, daddy! ❤
7.17.2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
Daddy, I was thinking earlier of the many times in the cold Winter months, you'd set with one of us kids held snug in your arms, close enough to the woodstove to keep us warm as the chill of the cold outside moved in during the long night.
A lot of times you'd have a toothache and we'd have an earache.
I remember laying cuddled close to you with my 'hurting' ear against your chest, I'd drift off to sleep with the sound of your heartbeat filling my world...
You spent many nights holding, 'nusin', one of your babies as the two of us faced the night and tried to sleep through our pain.
I loveyou, daddy xox
9.20.2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
Just a couple of weeks ago sister and I were down home. We went to the home place where we grew up.
As I walked around the yard and room to room in the home that daddy and mommie built for all of us, built with love, with their own hands, every board, rock and chunk of concrete was put on that piece of land by those two people.
Daddy and mommie loved each other, they loved us kids, they loved their home and the life that, over the years they'd built from pretty much nothing. As I looked at all the things the hands of those two wonderful people had touched over all the years, I felt that somehow it's wrong for them to be gone and all the things they created to still be here. Not a rational thought maybe, but to me, as I touched the things they'd touched, I somehow wanted to trade... all those things for mommie and daddy. A fair trade I think.
October 2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
~What moves through us is a silence, a quiet sadness, a longing for one more day, one more word, one more touch, we may not understand why you left this earth so soon, or why you left before we were ready to say good-bye, but little by little, we begin to remember not just that you are gone, but that you lived. And that your life gave us memories too beautiful to forget~
~ Anonymous
11.8.2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
I Didn't Really Die
They say that life is fleeting
I know that this is true
I left this world so quickly
With no goodbye to you.
I know how much you miss me
Your tears fall ever light
The pillow where you lay your head
Is wet with them at night.
I know your heart is hurting
The words we left, unsaid
I love yous left unspoken
Are spinning in your head.
The strength that I have carried
That served to make you whole
Remains to make you stronger
Within your grieving soul.
For you see, while you were weeping
On the day I passed away
At the gravesite near the flowers
Where my loved ones knelt to pray.
An angel came to see me
She took me by the hand
She led me to a kingdom
In a very distant land.
As I look down from the heaven
And see you standing there
Your heart so ever burdened
With more weight than it can bear.
I long to bring you comfort
I long to give you peace
I long to hold you closely
Cause all your tears to cease.
The joy I've found in heaven
Goes far beyond compare
The love that's so elusive
Can be found here everywhere.
The light is softly shining
There's no storm clouds here or rain
There's no teardrops found in heaven
There's no suffering, there's no pain.
You needn't be so troubled
Stay close to God and pray
That someday we'll be together
One bright and glorious day.
So my beloved, you shouldn't question
My dear you need not cry
I've gone to be with Jesus
You see, I really didn't die.
~ unknown
daddy, I don't think we ever left an 'I love you' unsaid. We never missed the chance for one last hug, a kiss and an I loveyou...
I loveyou, daddy xox
11.13.2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
I asked a little Angel
that lives up in the sky,
"Why do we have tears
whenever we start to cry?"
The Angel answered, "Peace be Still,"
and I will tell you this:
When all the love is in your heart
and no more love will fit,
the extra love spills over
and tears begin to fall
Tears just mean you love them;
More than ever, Most of All
loveyou, daddy xox
11.26.2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
A few nights ago I was wrapping Christmas gifts and as I was taping the wrapping paper in place my mind drifted back to Christmases years ago.
There was never money for little extras, like tape and bows. The wrapping paper was carefully smoothed, folded and put away for use the next year. Daddy and mommie spent the extra money on things that mattered in our lives.
I remember opening gifts tied with string and sometimes mommie used her straight pins to hold the paper in place. We knew to keep the pins and not lose'em, because she didn't have the money to waste on replacing them. Those Christmas morning memories are golden now.
As soon as daddy would get up, build a fire and the house would get warm, we'd hurry outa bed and gather on the floor in front of the Christmas tree.
It was always a cedar that daddy had cut from near our home. It was decorated with a few 'store bought' decorations, but mostly ones we'd made ourselves. The foil tinsel was saved year to year and is still one of the brightest parts of my Christmas memories.
The whole house smelled of cedar and the food, cakes and pies, mommie had cooked in the preceding days. I can close my eyes and the memories are almost as rich as the aromas from those long ago days.
After our gifts were opened and our 'socks' were emptied we'd gather our prizes around us for a short time of checking out each others' goodies and enjoying our bounty.
In short order mommie would have breakfast ready. Always a wonderful country meal, one that I took for granted then but truly appreciate now. There'd be home-made biscuits, fried eggs, gravy, some kind of fried meat and lots of fresh cow's milk. The meat and eggs were grown there on our place and mommie kept the cow milked, so we always had as much fresh milk as we could drink.
And mommie always made 'chocolate' or chocolate gravy, as some call it. We'd mix it with fresh churned cow butter and 'sop' the biscuits in it for a mouthwatering finish to a wonderful meal.
This was pretty much an everyday breakfast for us but as I said earlier, I never appreciated it until much later.
This is the first year that I won't spend Christmas with either daddy or mommie, so it will be a lonely time in a sense. I know that they're together again and that gives me peace.
Thank you daddy and mommie for so many wonderful Christmas mornings and memories to treasure to the end.
I loveyou both and miss you so much.
Your baby, Beverly Joe XOX
12.24.2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
I got your adopt-a-hiway sign all fixed up with your and mommie's name on it, looks awesome!!
11.05.2016
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
09.19.2018
I heard your voice in the wind today
and I turned to see your face;
The warmth of the wind caressed me
as I stood silently in place.
I felt your touch in the sun today
as its warmth filled the sky;
I closed my eyes for your embrace
and my spirit soared high.
I saw your eyes in the window pane
as I watched the falling rain;
It seemed as each raindrop fell
it quietly said your name.
I held you close in my heart today
it made me feel complete;
You may have died...but you are not gone
you will always be a part of me.
As long as the sun shines...
the wind blows...
the rain falls...
You will live on inside of me forever
for that is all my heart knows.
loveyou, daddy xox
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
Daddy is the biological father of Freddie Waters
Freddie is my half brother.
He died Dec. 19, 2023, 18 years & 3 days after daddy.
I'd loved to have known Freddie better.
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
¸❤.·´ A MEMORIAL, A LOVING TRIBUTE
(¯'L´¯)✿
.'•.¸.•´(¯'O´¯)✿
******.'•.¸.•´(¯'V´¯)✿
...***********'•.¸.•´(¯'E´¯)
.........**************•.¸.•´
ಌڿڰۣಌ Love you daddy ಌڿڰۣಌ
Joe Wiley Vaughn was born June 3, 1918. He is the son of William Nelson Vaughn and Mary Sue (Snow) Vaughn. He married Rhoda Victoria Self on April 23, 1955 at Wayton, Arkansas.
They had four children together and he is survived by all of them, Beverly Joe, Franklin Dean, Clifton Wiley and Tamara Lynn. Also survived by his oldest child, born before Joe met and married Rhoda, is a son, Freddie Waters. He is also survived by nine grandchildren; Ricky and Ronald Waters, Tonka Myers, Micah and Darren Vaughn, Kortnie Clark, Kassi and Zach Vaughn and Byron Vaughn, ten great grandchildren; Trinity Myers, Shaylee, Stetson, Shalako and Sydney Grantham, Bailey and Logan House, Wiley Cockrum, Dalton and Taylor Vaughn.
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
Daddy lived all his life in Wayton, Arkansas, (Newton County) where he was an active member of the community.
He was an avid hunter and fisherman. He was a farmer and carpenter. When it came to making anything from nothing there was no one that could out-do him.
The concrete and native stone gateway at the Snow Cemetery where daddy is now buried was handmade by him, his dad, Will and one of his nephews.
He was a master story teller and could keep an audience of any age held captive with tales of his childhood and 'haint tales' passed on to him from his mom, my grannie Vaughn.
Daddy could be seen sitting for untold minutes as he would 'call' a quail to him. The male of the species would fly to within yards of Joe thinking he was courting a female.
Daddy played the guitar and loved to sing as he strummed out the tune. His favorites were the old cowboy ballads, Little Joe the Wrangler, Blood Stained Saddle, Ole Shep and gospel music, The Old Rugged Cross being one he sang often.
He was a longtime member of the Masonic Lodge, Buffalo Lodge #366, at Wayton, Arkansas, as was his father and paternal grandfather before him.
After giving his life to Jesus in the early 1980's, daddy wrote a song about his road to redemption. He named it "Mountain of Love". It tells of his struggle to find the right way to ask God for forgiveness and the gracious amount of love and forgiveness he received once he finally knealed at the alter and prayed the one prayer that would set him free.
In daddy's last weeks of life, as he was tended by his wife, Rhoda, my mommie, he asked her several times if she could hear the beautiful singing. She never did, but he insisted he could hear 'the most beautiful singing' passing above him as he lay on his bed.After his death, we as a family, agreed that he had been hearing a heavenly choir calling him home. We thought it appropriate that this be put on his stone, as there could never be a more fitting epitaph than one he'd repeated over and over during his last days on this earth.
At daddy's funeral service, his song, 'Mountain of Love' was sung, as was 'Daddy's Hands'.
Daddy left to find the singing on December 16, 2005. He passed away at Jasper, Arkansas. He was buried in the Snow Cemetery at Wayton, Arkansas on December 20, 2005.
"Daddy said he heard the most beautiful singing, now he's gone home to find it."
Daddy's maternal great grandfather, Wiley Snow, was the first person buried in what was to become the cemetery. During Wiley's life he requested that when he died that he be buried under a big Walnut tree in his pasture. From that grave has grown the Snow Cemetery.
Daddy is buried only a few yards from his great grandfather, Wiley.
(¯'•.•´¯) (¯'•.•´¯)
*'•.¸(¯'•.•´¯)¸.•´ ❀
۵۵۵۵۵۵ '•.¸.•´ ۵۵ ღ .¸¸.•´¯'♥
... In early 2009 my sister, Tamara and I 'adopted' a mile of Arkansas hi-way in memory of daddy. It's located on HWY 62 East, just east of the entrance to the Pea Ridge National Military Park, Pea Ridge, AR. Three or four times a year we 'pick up' daddy's mile. The first time was the roughtest. In a two mile stretch of road we picked up 13 bags of trash, a tire, a pillow, a bucket and half a truck bumper. Since then it's not been such a long day of trash gathering. It's something we do to pay tribute to a man that taught us to love and respect this earth that we live on.
...for all the many miles you walked for us, daddy, we'll now, every now and then, in your memory, walk a couple for you... with so much love, your girls!
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
poem written and added
to bio Oct. 14, 2008
For you Daddy...
I'll see you in the sunset
just at the horizon's edge
Your voice will come to me at dusk
in the moments before night falls
Support I'll feel from you
in the storm's raging roll
The thunder carries your spirit
as you ride the wild wind
I will feel your love come closer
as the Autumn leaves fall 'round me
I'll know your heart's song
as the breeze races 'cross the fields
The gold in each sunrise
will herald your spirit gone on ahead
The wisdom you taught me
lives on in my own child
I find so many parts of you
in all the ones you left behind
Reminders of the person you were
just there beyond the shadows
A shout within the heart
is but a whisper when put to song
Your songs live on within us
your stories, treasures of our soul
until we meet again…
I'll see you in the sunset
just at the horizon's edge
by Beverly Joe xOx
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when you left...
a piece of my heart went with you...
♥ಌڿڰۣಌ♥ L٥ﻻ ﻉ√٥υ f٥гﻉ√ﻉг ♥ಌڿڰۣಌ♥
Little did we know that day
that our Lord would call your name.
In life we loved you dearly,
in death we do the same.
It broke our hearts to lose you,
though you did not go alone,
for part of us went with you
the day God called you home.
Our family chain is broken
and nothing seems the same
but as God calls us one by one
the chain will link again
~ author unknown
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
The Little Ship
I stood watching as the little ship sailed out to sea.
The setting sun tinted his white sails with a golden light and as he disappeared from sight a voice at my side whispered, "He is gone".
But the sea was a narrow one. On the farther shore a little band of friends had gathered to watch and wait in happy expectation. Suddenly they caught sight of the tiny sail and at the very moment when my companion had whispered, "He is gone" a glad shout went up in joyous welcome, "Here he comes!"
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
If roses grow in Heaven, Lord,
please pick one for me,
place it in my daddy's hands
and tell him it's from me.
Tell him that we all love and miss him
and when he turns to smile,
place a kiss upon his cheek
and hold him for a while.
Because remembering him is easy,
all of us, his loved ones, do it every day.
But there's an ache within our hearts,
that will never, ever go away...
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
Sunshine fades and shadows fall,
But memories of you outlast them all.
Unseen, unheard, you're always near,
Still loved, still missed, still very dear.
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
Oh, I miss you so much
life will never be the same,
wish heaven had a phone
so I could hear your voice again.
I thought of you today,
but that is nothing new.
I thought about you yesterday
and days before that too.
I think of you in silence,
I often speak your name.
All I have are memories
and a picture in a frame.
Your memory is a keepsake
from which I'll never part.
God has you in his arms
I have you in my heart
~ author unknown
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
The Rose
~ by Bette Midler
Some say love, it is a river
That drowns the tender reed.
Some say love, it is a razor
That leaves your soul to bleed.
Some say love, it is a hunger,
An endless aching need.
I say love, it is a flower,
And you it's only seed.
It's the heart, afraid of breaking,
That never learns to dance.
It's the dream, afraid of waking,
That never takes a chance.
It's the one who won't be taken,
Who cannot seem to give.
And the soul, afraid of dyin',
That never learns to live.
When the night has been too lonely,
And the road has been too long,
And you think that love is only
For the lucky and the strong,
Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snows,
Lies the seed, that with the sun's love,
In the spring becomes the rose
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
...gently they go,
the beautiful,
the tender,
the kind...
I know.
But I do not approve.
I am not resigned...
~ by Edna St. Vincent Millay
❤ •*¨*•.¸¸❤❤¸.•*¨*• ❤
"What was good, and what was ill,
what would save and what would kill.
Thus gone, amongst you I may live,
and dead, yet speak and counsel give.
Farewell, my birds, farewell, adieu,
I happy am, if well with you."
~ Anne Bradstreet
.❤¸.•*¨*❀*¨*•.¸¸❤¸.•*¨*❀*¨*•.¸¸❤.
❤❀ REMEMBERING A SPECIAL ANGEL ❀❤
.¸.•*¨*❤*¨*•.¸¸❀¸.•*¨*❤*¨*•.¸¸.
one of the songs daddy love play on his guitar and sing... Old Rugged Cross. take a few minutes and enjoy it with him...
loveyou daddy
3.9.2011
♥¸¸.•*¨*•.★.•*¨*•.¸¸♥
On April 5, 2011 one of daddy's first cousins passed away. Duel T. Ramsey. I left the following on Duel's memorial page and since daddy and Duel were always close, I wanted to leave it here on daddy's page also. Both of these men will be missed by their babies and many, many others...
♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡
╔══╗
╚╗╔╝
╔╝(¯'v´¯)
╚══'My Daddy
♥¸¸.•*¨*•.★.•*¨*•.¸¸♥
April 11, 2011
There are times I find myself thinking of Duel coming into the revenue with Ruby, of him always coming by to say hi or talk if we had a few minutes. I find myself crying... I know that mixed in there somewhere are tears for my own daddy. I know deep in my heart that I'm crying for eight babies that have lost their daddy... For me, my brothers and sister and Duel's four babies, Beverly, Barbara, Janet and Kirby. I'm crying for all of us.
As an adult my head understands the way life works... birth, childhood, adulthood, older years and death. Yes, my head understands, but my heart rages, 'NO!'. As my daddy's child, I want my daddy back. I don't want him to be gone. I want him to live forever. I WANT HIM BACK HERE WITH ME!!
I know daddy would tell me in his patient way, "Baby, you know that's not the way it works, I'm supposed to die before you, you're supposed to out-live me."
I know daddy but losing you hurts too much, even if I am an adult, it still hurts my 'little girl' heart.
I believe that daddy and Duel would both tell us that they have followed a path set down from ages past. They, in the natural order of things are meant to go on ahead of us. That's the way that they'd want it. That's the way they both lived their lives. They did their best to set a path for their babies to follow throughout their lives. Even in death they leave a trail for us to follow.
It reminds me of how daddy would lead us when we were kids. Specifically when we'd go to the cellar. He would always go ahead of us with the ole kerosene lantern. He knew the path to the cellar door by heart, he didn't need the light of the lantern nearly as much as us kids did. He'd go ahead a few steps and hold the lantern up and to the side so we'd be able to see the way to follow him, be able to see the path better in the dark, not stumble over a rock and maybe fall. And as long as he was moving, we were right behind him, trusting that he'd never, ever lead us on the wrong path or into something that would harm us. Mommie was always there behind us to make sure none of us strayed from the path, to reasure us to keep moving forward. Together they took us along a dark and sometimes scary path, through a raging storm, crashing thunder and blinding lightening to a place of safety, warmth and light.
The way they raised us was in their own way, a way of trying to show us a clear path also, to try and steer us clear of the storms of life. Sometimes I followed, sometimes I didn't, but I have always been able to look back and see that the path they'd 'lit' for me was always there, just sometimes I chose not to follow it.
I know that my Father in heaven did the same thing for Duel and daddy. He went ahead to make sure that the path was safe, that it was lit with a guiding light and if they stumbled He'd be there waiting when they righted themselves and started once more down the path He'd left for them. He prepared a place for them also.
I believe with all my heart that they are both in that wonderful, safe place, a place filled with so much love and light that as humans we can't conceive of its brilliance.
As humans we can only stand in faith and believe that the path daddy and Duel have left for us leads us on into a place of eternal safety, warmth and love.
Wait for us... with arms wide open... wait for us...
♥¸¸.•*¨*•.★.•*¨*•.¸¸♥
daddy loved this song and sang it a lot...
Enjoy, Peace In The Valley.
♥¸¸.•*¨*•.★.•*¨*•.¸¸♥
Daddy, sister and I picked up your mile today. It was kinda hot but as usual we had fun, a lot of laughs. That's one of the gifts you and mommie bestowed on all us kids, the gift of laughter, to find something amusing in most situations. What a wonderful legacy you've left to all of us. Loveyou daddy, xOx muah
May 22, 2011
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You can shed tears that I am gone.
Or you can smile because I lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that I will come back
Or you can open your eyes and see all that I left.
Your heart can be empty because you can't see me
Or you can be full of the love we shared
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember me and only that I am gone
Or you can cherish my memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind,
be empty and turn your back
Or you can do what I'd want:
smile, open your eyes, love and go on.
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
♥ When they walk through the valley of weeping it will become a place of springs where pools of blessing and refreshment collect after rains ¸.•*♥ Psalms 84:6
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((¯'•♥•´¯)ჱ ❤✫ƸӜƷ ჱ
__'•.¸.•´_*●♥ ჱ ♥
╔╗╔╗╔╗╔═╦ ♥. .☆.......•*¨'*•
╠╣║║║╦╠═║✫ (¯''•.¸ //(*_*) ¸.•'´¯)
╝╚╩║╚╝╚═╚═╝❤✫ƸӜƷ *'• .…* * *.•
.•*"˜˜"*°•. ˜"*°•♥•°*"˜ .•°*"˜˜"*°•.
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
Twice as Much
I have felt the pain of heartache
in the days since you have passed
and never again will I take for granted
how long a life will last...
Each lifetime has a limit
from the date of its creation.
We only choose our life's direction,
not its beginning...or duration.
You lived and loved a lifetime
within the years that you were blessed,
and I mourn, because without you,
I now must live the rest.
It is I who suffer;
I who grieve.
You are gone, and now content.
And if you could,
I know you would
erase these tears I've spent.
It is I who loved so deeply
and so much of me, is you...
that when you left this earthly place,
a part of me left, too.
Though our hearts are joined forever,
linked by invisible chains,
the time has come for me to see
that much of "me" remains.
Every day you're in my head.
Every day you're in my heart.
Every morning through day's end,
you occupy a part.
We walked this earth together;
our lives are intertwined...
so I shall live this life I have
as two lifetimes...combined.
Twice as long, I'll gaze at sunsets.
Twice as many times, I'll laugh.
Twice as hard, I'll seize these moments
I now live on your behalf.
Twice as deeply, I will care.
Twice as tough, I'll bear the sorrow.
Twice as real I'll live each day
and thank God twice for each tomorrow.
Twice as strong I'll smell the roses.
Twice this vow, I will renew:
Until we meet again one day,
Twice As Much, I'll Live For You.
~ Linda Ellis
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
June 3, 2014
Daddy this is the first birthday that you and mommie have spent together in a few years. My heart is sad that she's no longer here, but I rejoice in the fact that, like you, she'll never know another moment of pain, no more confusion or fear. I know your reunion was such a joyous thing... one day I'll meet you both again. I loveyou, daddy, so, so much. You are missed, every day I miss you. XOX
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
Daddy, it's comin up on three months since mommie left us to join you.
The only thing that I can think of that eclipses my sadness of not having you both here with me, is the joy that I know in my heart that both of you have with being together again.
I can only imagine the smiles on your faces since your recent reunion!
I loveyou, daddy! ❤
7.17.2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
Daddy, I was thinking earlier of the many times in the cold Winter months, you'd set with one of us kids held snug in your arms, close enough to the woodstove to keep us warm as the chill of the cold outside moved in during the long night.
A lot of times you'd have a toothache and we'd have an earache.
I remember laying cuddled close to you with my 'hurting' ear against your chest, I'd drift off to sleep with the sound of your heartbeat filling my world...
You spent many nights holding, 'nusin', one of your babies as the two of us faced the night and tried to sleep through our pain.
I loveyou, daddy xox
9.20.2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
Just a couple of weeks ago sister and I were down home. We went to the home place where we grew up.
As I walked around the yard and room to room in the home that daddy and mommie built for all of us, built with love, with their own hands, every board, rock and chunk of concrete was put on that piece of land by those two people.
Daddy and mommie loved each other, they loved us kids, they loved their home and the life that, over the years they'd built from pretty much nothing. As I looked at all the things the hands of those two wonderful people had touched over all the years, I felt that somehow it's wrong for them to be gone and all the things they created to still be here. Not a rational thought maybe, but to me, as I touched the things they'd touched, I somehow wanted to trade... all those things for mommie and daddy. A fair trade I think.
October 2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
~What moves through us is a silence, a quiet sadness, a longing for one more day, one more word, one more touch, we may not understand why you left this earth so soon, or why you left before we were ready to say good-bye, but little by little, we begin to remember not just that you are gone, but that you lived. And that your life gave us memories too beautiful to forget~
~ Anonymous
11.8.2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
I Didn't Really Die
They say that life is fleeting
I know that this is true
I left this world so quickly
With no goodbye to you.
I know how much you miss me
Your tears fall ever light
The pillow where you lay your head
Is wet with them at night.
I know your heart is hurting
The words we left, unsaid
I love yous left unspoken
Are spinning in your head.
The strength that I have carried
That served to make you whole
Remains to make you stronger
Within your grieving soul.
For you see, while you were weeping
On the day I passed away
At the gravesite near the flowers
Where my loved ones knelt to pray.
An angel came to see me
She took me by the hand
She led me to a kingdom
In a very distant land.
As I look down from the heaven
And see you standing there
Your heart so ever burdened
With more weight than it can bear.
I long to bring you comfort
I long to give you peace
I long to hold you closely
Cause all your tears to cease.
The joy I've found in heaven
Goes far beyond compare
The love that's so elusive
Can be found here everywhere.
The light is softly shining
There's no storm clouds here or rain
There's no teardrops found in heaven
There's no suffering, there's no pain.
You needn't be so troubled
Stay close to God and pray
That someday we'll be together
One bright and glorious day.
So my beloved, you shouldn't question
My dear you need not cry
I've gone to be with Jesus
You see, I really didn't die.
~ unknown
daddy, I don't think we ever left an 'I love you' unsaid. We never missed the chance for one last hug, a kiss and an I loveyou...
I loveyou, daddy xox
11.13.2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
I asked a little Angel
that lives up in the sky,
"Why do we have tears
whenever we start to cry?"
The Angel answered, "Peace be Still,"
and I will tell you this:
When all the love is in your heart
and no more love will fit,
the extra love spills over
and tears begin to fall
Tears just mean you love them;
More than ever, Most of All
loveyou, daddy xox
11.26.2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
A few nights ago I was wrapping Christmas gifts and as I was taping the wrapping paper in place my mind drifted back to Christmases years ago.
There was never money for little extras, like tape and bows. The wrapping paper was carefully smoothed, folded and put away for use the next year. Daddy and mommie spent the extra money on things that mattered in our lives.
I remember opening gifts tied with string and sometimes mommie used her straight pins to hold the paper in place. We knew to keep the pins and not lose'em, because she didn't have the money to waste on replacing them. Those Christmas morning memories are golden now.
As soon as daddy would get up, build a fire and the house would get warm, we'd hurry outa bed and gather on the floor in front of the Christmas tree.
It was always a cedar that daddy had cut from near our home. It was decorated with a few 'store bought' decorations, but mostly ones we'd made ourselves. The foil tinsel was saved year to year and is still one of the brightest parts of my Christmas memories.
The whole house smelled of cedar and the food, cakes and pies, mommie had cooked in the preceding days. I can close my eyes and the memories are almost as rich as the aromas from those long ago days.
After our gifts were opened and our 'socks' were emptied we'd gather our prizes around us for a short time of checking out each others' goodies and enjoying our bounty.
In short order mommie would have breakfast ready. Always a wonderful country meal, one that I took for granted then but truly appreciate now. There'd be home-made biscuits, fried eggs, gravy, some kind of fried meat and lots of fresh cow's milk. The meat and eggs were grown there on our place and mommie kept the cow milked, so we always had as much fresh milk as we could drink.
And mommie always made 'chocolate' or chocolate gravy, as some call it. We'd mix it with fresh churned cow butter and 'sop' the biscuits in it for a mouthwatering finish to a wonderful meal.
This was pretty much an everyday breakfast for us but as I said earlier, I never appreciated it until much later.
This is the first year that I won't spend Christmas with either daddy or mommie, so it will be a lonely time in a sense. I know that they're together again and that gives me peace.
Thank you daddy and mommie for so many wonderful Christmas mornings and memories to treasure to the end.
I loveyou both and miss you so much.
Your baby, Beverly Joe XOX
12.24.2014
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
I got your adopt-a-hiway sign all fixed up with your and mommie's name on it, looks awesome!!
11.05.2016
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
09.19.2018
I heard your voice in the wind today
and I turned to see your face;
The warmth of the wind caressed me
as I stood silently in place.
I felt your touch in the sun today
as its warmth filled the sky;
I closed my eyes for your embrace
and my spirit soared high.
I saw your eyes in the window pane
as I watched the falling rain;
It seemed as each raindrop fell
it quietly said your name.
I held you close in my heart today
it made me feel complete;
You may have died...but you are not gone
you will always be a part of me.
As long as the sun shines...
the wind blows...
the rain falls...
You will live on inside of me forever
for that is all my heart knows.
loveyou, daddy xox
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
Daddy is the biological father of Freddie Waters
Freddie is my half brother.
He died Dec. 19, 2023, 18 years & 3 days after daddy.
I'd loved to have known Freddie better.
♥ * •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ♥
