Sorry I came in late on this thread. I will miss Ike very much for his knowledge, input and just being a great person. Ike has not gone anywhere because he will be in our minds for a long time.
Good Morning. May God be with Ike's family as they lay his body to rest today and may they feel God's peace and comfort hugging each one of them in their sorrow and grief. Today as they say their final goodbyes to the earthly presence of their dad, I pray God will fill their hearts to overflowing with their dad's spiritual presence and love for each of them. And may God be with each of us as we say a final goodbye to Ike too. I know Ike's spiritual presence will live on in each one of our lives that he touched with his stories and his presence here. Ike blessed alot of lives here and left us the blessings of his stories too. A fine legacy to share with us all from a fine man who we all will miss. Thanks for the blessings Ike, we won't forget you. Philippians 3:20-21 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself @Ike Willis Now your eyes see and your ears hear all that God has prepared for you because you love Him and now live with Him forever. What a wonderful eternity you have entered into Ike....you now know the fullness of the joy and love of God. Amazing!
Bethanne here....I am trying to figure out how to post the pic of the BEAUTIFUL flowers !! Once I figure it out I will put up a pic. But a BIG THANK YOU again, they are beautiful & SO VERY thoughtful !! Love to you all !!!
We will be looking forward to seeing that picture @Ike Willis May the Lord bless and keep you and all of your family in His loving care now and forever more. If it's possible keep in touch Bethanne and if you ever feel like sharing a story or two out of the book you made of your dad's stories....we sure would enjoy hearing them. And if you ever feel the need to talk Bethanne I've got a good ear for listening and you can always email me at babshunt56@yahoo.com Your dad was and is very special to us all and that makes his family special to us too. And that's a forever thing.
I would love to post his stories...I have quite a lot. I don't know if they are any you have read before but I will do my best to try to post daily till I get to the end of what I have !! That would be AWESOME to pass those onto you all since you were his extended loving family. I will continue to post under his name as I have been doing, so it will be like your getting your daily "IKE" story. I just counted how many stories I have in this book...71 !!! Some are quite long, so was wondering if it matters how long a post can be !?!? These are stories dated from 2009 thru 2012, some are daily & follow the previous day's stories....I hope it makes sense. BUT OMG, so much joy to read !! I will just continue under this thread as I'm learning this forum stuff ...LOL !! So ...I will try to do this daily & I know you'll enjoy ...LOVE TO ALL !!!
There may be a limit, but it's a fairly long one. If, by chance, you reach a limit, you could just post it in a couple of posts.
While , I'm still online I will start with the dedication I wrote for Dad's book: This book is designed for my father Dennis J. Salek, whom wrote all the stories within. He is a great storyteller of events & memories of things from his childhood. Some parts maybe fiction & some parts maybe non-fiction. But all together have created wonderful stories as he brings us into the way life was for him growing up in the 40's & 50's. I have enjoyed reading, & rereading these, and have enjoyed putting this book together for you Dad. I Love You, Bethanne To be continued:
@Ike Willis Bethanne, you are beyond a doubt the embodiment of any guy who might during his last days believe his efforts raising a child were totally justified. Your Dad stands as a pillar among the contingent of those who raised children and felt, and knew, their efforts to instill value during those early learning years, proved to be absolutely positive. Were your Dad listening, now, I know he would smile knowingly, and understandingly. Bless you. Frank
Mornin' ..storytime ! Who Do You Miss the Most ? Just wondering which departed family members people miss most. My dad, mom, gramps and granny are long gone. My brother Ike was killed in Nam. Should I feel guilty for missing him the most? Dad, his three brothers and two brother-in-laws enlisted in the military right after the Pearl Harbor incident. I was just a bit over 1 year old. Was about 5 1/2 when they all returned. Big brother Ike was 10 years older than me. My sister Angel, was born shortly after Dad shipped out. She is 2 years younger than me. Little brother Daryl is 2 younger than Angel. In case your doing the math, he was adopted. Ike got a girl in trouble at a young age. the girl's parents had little. They were going to have it aborted. My mom begged to have the baby and turn it over to us. That's how we got Daryl. When dad was away, gramps, granny, mom and Ike kept the farm going. I followed Ike everywhere, even after dad returned. When I was about 7, Ike taught me how to do oil changes on our two Allis Chalmers tractors and the cars and trucks. When I got big enough to reach the pedals, Ike taught me to drive, first the tractors, then his old car and pickup. When I was 10 or 11, Ike would take me to town with him on Saturday afternoons. He would give me money for the movies, with orders to come by the bar down the street and wait for him. In those days they let me sit inside at a table and sip soda pop while I waited for Ike to get done drinking, shooting pool or dancing with some bar gal. Then, I would drive us home. Townies called us the Ike twins. Those were great days.
Well Bethanne, now we know why your dad used the name "Ike" here. As I was reading I could just hear your dad telling us that story. Thanks for sharing with us.
Yes, thank you for sharing these stories with us, Bethanne ! I have tears in my eyes after reading it, and I suspect that I am not the only person here that this is happening to. It is wonderful to have these continuing glimpses into your father's life, which we all looked forward to and joyfully read each day. Your dad could make a story about looking out of his apartment window into the alley behind it seem like an interesting morning.
Just a note, Bethanne, "Ike" always printed in bold type. We've gotten to recognize his bold stories better.....and easier to read.