My DoubleSpur King

He's gone. 

He has been gone for 76 days and 22 hours. 

I know because I stood at the foot of his old iron four poster bed and watched him take his last breath. I had stood at his head earlier, bent down, kissed his forehead, and whispered to him to apologize for being so awful. 

I drove like a bat-outa-hell to get there. And I arrived in time to hold his hand. 

This man is missed more than I ever imagined. He was the first man I ever loved. He was the first man I didn't love. He taught me respect, and I showed him disrespect. He taught me to work and to play. He taught me to ride horses, to flank calves, to vaccinate cattle, to bottle feed sweet baby calves and baby goats, and to love life. 

The first time I watched a calf being pulled, it was by his side. Then we strapped that beautiful baby on the saddle horn and took it back to the house. Just me, Dad, and Tommy Cook. 

I wish he was here. 

I know that he is teaching and working harder than he ever worked before. He is preparing a place for his family. "These shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever. ...These are they whose names are written in heaven, where God and Christ are the judge of all. These are they who are just men made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood. These are they whose bodies are celestial, whose glory is that of the sun, even the glory of God, the highest of all, whose glory the sun of the firmament is written of as being typical." Doctrine and Covenants 76: 62, 68-70. Those who leave this earth with a testimony of Jesus, have received the saving ordinances while here, and through faith, overcome will inherit the celestial kingdom. 

That's my dad! A celestial spirit waiting for us to arrive. And we will all, one day be resurrected to live forever with our eternal Heavenly Father. 

Dad, keep the light on for me...