I would like to share some precious memories that I have of my Uncle Don. I remember clear back when I was a little girl and we used to go to visit Don & Norma. I used to scratch Uncle Don's head for him. I can remember Don coming into Grandma & Grandpa Phillip's house when they lived at 915 Walnut Street in Carthage. He was always smiling and glad to see me. He used to talk to me about my dad Bob Phillips getting killed and how hard it was for him & Aunt Norma to accept his death. He worked in the timber with my dad. My mom used to go along with them at times and Aunt Norma told me that mom would go with Don to the store and people thought they were brother and sister because they were such good friends. Before Don's health failed him to where he stopped talking I would go see him & Aunt Norma and he'd be sitting there in Grandma's room looking so sweet and I'd go up and give him a hug and ask him who my dad was and he would always answer me right away and say "BOB PHILLIPS". He knew who I was for a long time and he told Aunt Norma he didn't know why I just didn't move down there to Carthage. She told him that I couldn't because I have my own family, and he told her it didn't matter! Ha!Ha! One time I was at their house and I was sitting in the kitchen visiting with Aunt Norma and Uncle Don came in the room using his cane and was headed to the bathroom and all of a sudden he turned around and looked straight into my eyes as I was sitting there watching him and he says to me: "I LOVE YOU"! I told him that I loved him too and that he was going to make me cry if he wasn't careful and Aunt Norma beamed of course and said "Yes, he does love you"! When Uncle Don got to where he wasn't saying awhole lot I would tell him that I loved him and Aunt Norma would say to him "TELL MARGE YOU LOVE HER GRANDPA"! I'll never forget how precious they both were to me. One time I stayed with Uncle Don while Aunt Norma was at work and I waited for Carla to relieve me. I loved to help Aunt Norma out by cleaning her house up real pretty for her and I was busy most of the time that I was there and Uncle Don was laying down in their bedroom most of the time. He got up to use the bath room and as he was headed back to the bedroom he told me that I sure was working hard cleaning the house. I told him that he sure did have a beautiful house and he goes, do I? I go, you sure do and he just smiled and walked back into the bedrrom. He told me to not leave him there by himself and I told him I wouldn't. I was sitting out on the old deck with Aunt Norma & Uncle Don one evening and he decided to be a tad bit ornery. He kept taking a wash cloth and throwing it off the deck and I'd go pick it up and give it back to him and of course he continued doing it and thought it was pretty funny. Aunt Norma got after him and told him to stop doing that because he was only doing it because he knew I'd go get it for him. Then he started throwing his cane out in the yard too. It was hilarious! He didn't pay much attention to what Aunt Norma was saying to him at all. Grandma Phillips told me that when she was living with Don & Norma and Uncle Don was still getting around with a cane that she was sitting at the kitchen table and that he went to sit down and fell on the floor because the chairs had rollers on them and that he took his belt off and started beating the chair with it. Grandma kept saying it wasn't funny and then again it was, and she & I both got quite a laugh out of that incident. I can remember one time I took off from Burnside Ill. and took the back roads riding my bike all the way to Don & Norma's house when they lived out by the old college there in Carthage and my dad paddled me but good for it when he got there! Ha!Ha! The babysitter wasn't being very nice to me so that's why I took off for Aunt Norma & Uncle Don's. I got a singing, dancing, talking santa claus for Uncle Don for Christmas and I can still picture both Uncle Don & Aunt Norma sitting there in front of their beautiful fireplace having a blast watching santa and opening presents that I brought for them. Uncle Don was checking out all of his goodies in his stocking and it was a sight I'll Never forget for as long as I live. Aunt Norma got a bang out of santa too. The picture's that I took of them that Christmas speak for themselves that's for sure. I used to take Uncle Don all different kinds of cakes to eat and candy. I can re-call one Easter a couple 2-3 years back he ate 2-3 chocolate bunny's and then my kid's didn't want their's so I took them to him and he ate them too! I loved to go see Uncle Don even after losing Aunt Norma. She wouldn't have wanted it any other way so I went several different times and took Shirley with me so we could spend some quality time with him while we still could. I felt like Aunt Norma was right there everytime we stopped by to see him and took him goodies to eat etc. I loved to do whatever I could for Uncle Don. It sure was hard to see him without Aunt Norma as it was for everybody. It just broke my heart to see how lifeless he became after losing her. Many times I think about what he went through the morning Aunt Norma died and he couldn't get up to see what was going on or try to get her some help etc. Poor Uncle Don experienced his worse nightmare that morning, and I just pray to God nothing like that ever happens to me & John. It always has bothered me that he wasn't able to even talk about how he felt or express his feeling's when Norma died. I'm so glad he & Aunt Norma both are finally at peace together celebrating his 72nd Birthday in heaven today and that their happy again and out of those tormented bodies. We'll always miss them and they'll NEVER be forgotten and I do believe we'll all see them again someday when we die. I keep trying to imagine how fabulous it'll be when we are re-united with all of our loved one's that have gone before us. I hope to live many more years yet, but I look forward to seeing my parents again and everybody that has died that I loved so much. Aunt Norma & Uncle Don really and truly were like a 2nd set of parents to me. I think about them both every single day. Whether we like it or not there's a time to be born and a time to die. I know Grandma Phillips thought very highly of Uncle Don for many reasons. For one she always told me how much he absolutely loved kid's! I can remember her talking about that years ago. All of the many picture's tell the story of his love for his kid's & Grandkid's. Aunt Norma told me that Don told her he didn't want to live even one minute longer then her and to be perfectly honest about it I didn't think he would. If it hadn't been for the love and wonderful care that he got from his kid's & Grandkid's he wouldn't have been able to held on as long as what he did. Aunt Norma would be so proud of all their kid's & Grandkid's for everything they did for him keeping him out of a nursing home and showing him so much love and kindness clear up until his passing. I know there are many people who were so good to Uncle Don and they deserve all the credit in the world for what they did for him, but Crystal was one awesome daughter-in-law to both Uncle Don & Aunt Norma and she was truly their angel! Carla's awesome too, and Connie. There aren't too many family's around that are any closer then what the Doyle's are. I know Rex sacrificed alot to drive to Carthage almost everyday to check on his parents. He was an amazing son! Aunt Norma & I were alone talking one night and she was saying that she & I both had had hard lives. She admitted it wasn't easy raising 7 kid's. I go, yes but look how good your kid's are to you! She goes, "YES" and we've got a niece who's been pretty darned good to us too! Ha!Ha! I did this memorial to honor Uncle Don for passing away 1 year ago today on his Birthday. I thought this might help all of the friends & family giving each of us a special place to go to visit him & Aunt Norma. I think it could be good therapy for all of us who loved them so much. I'm so glad that I took Uncle Don his 71st Birthday cake early. Who would have thought he would pass away on his Birthday? But, I try to look at it in a positive way...what better gift could he have received then to go home to the Lord on his Birthday and be with his Beautiful Norma again? There's no doubt in my mind that Aunt Norma was right there with him and his family when he passed. We all know one thing for sure and that is that their happy and holding hands again just like they used too here on earth. I treasure every minute that I got to spend with my Uncle Don & Aunt Norma. I'm a firm believer that a person has to go after their memories before it's too late. The memories of our loved one's are priceless! The picture's, the time spent with each of them, and I'm someone who likes to do for others doing what I can to make people happy. When I can make others happy by things I say or do then it makes me happy as well. There isn't anything that I wouldn't have done for Uncle Don, Aunt Norma, or Grandma Phillips. All I ever wanted from them was their love and nothing more and Aunt Norma made it very clear to me that she loved all 4 of us kid's. She told people that we were a Treasure to her. Uncle Don & Aunt Norma were very genuine people and in this day and age it's hard to find people like them. They will always be dearly loved and deeply missed! I hope that friends & family will enjoy viewing Uncle Don's & Aunt Norma's Memorial sites. I plan to use different picture's on the site's so enjoy! Please feel free to send me any picture's you might like to use etc. I'll be putting music on their Memorial site's soon. Love, Marge