Memories

March 5th has double significance in our family.  For 31 years it was Rod's birthday.  After his death it continued being his birthday, but we celebrated a little differently.  Two years ago, the day changed our family.  Dad passed away on Rod's 50th birthday.  That's a lot of emotion for one day.  I've written so much about these two - certainly two of the greatest male influences of my life.

The original Fultz Family

This picture has such a story.  When Rod was in 5th grade he broke his femur.  Because of his hemophilia, he spent about 6-8 weeks in the hospital, in traction.  He spent another 6-8 weeks at home in a body cast.  The entire time that Rod was in the hospital, our family visited him in the evenings when Dad got off work.  It didn't matter how tired Dad was, he would come home, shower, eat dinner, and off we'd go.  With all the pain that Rod lived through, he was never a complainer.  And Dad never complained about going to the hospital after a long day of work.

Another story - Mom, Dad and I had driven to the Monterey for a day.  This picture is on 17-Mile Drive.  This is where Dad gave me some of my favorite advice.  "Kathy, when you're deer hunting, sometimes you just need to sit on a rock and wait for the deer to come." Of course I was hunting "dear" of a different kind!  The funny thing about this story is Dad never shot a deer in his life.  He went "hunting" with my uncle Ron, but never got anything.  We liked to tease him that he was camping with a gun.  But the words of wisdom were right on!

Life just couldn't get much better than this!  I am so happy that Les and Rod became such good friends.  They instantly "got" each other.  The two of them together we so much fun.  So many laughs!

Can you say "Daddy's Girl?"

Elder Morton, Rod (giving me a hug), Les... only Dad was missing from this shot!

I think this is one of the last pictures I have of me with Dad.  This was at Kim and Rodney's wedding, March 7, 2009.