Goodbye Mr. Laughlin

Wednesday, October 1st, I was putting on my make-up to get ready for work, when I heard the elevator. I looked at the clock – it was 6:20. I thought Eric must have forgotten something on his way to work. I came out of the bathroom and I could tell by his face that he received a phone call from his mother. His dad’s lungs were filling up with fluid and there wasn’t much time. We tried to pack and remember what all we needed as we fought to see through the tears. We were on the road by 7:15 when we received another call, but this time it was from the pastor’s wife. It was too late; Bill had already taken his last breath and gone to heaven. The rest of the drive to Goldthwaite was sad and quiet. We wanted to say goodbye. But God let me remember the last words he said to Eric and I that Monday – “I love you.” What wonderful last words to leave someone.

When we arrived to Goldthwaite, the house was full of people and food. Donna held on to us a long time and cried. Soon after that we went to the funeral home, the visitation was the next night, and the funeral was Friday. Everything happened so quickly. We stayed through the rest of the following week. You don’t realize how much stuff you have to do once someone leaves this world. Eric didn’t want his mom to have to do it all alone, so we did about a months worth of stuff in a week. I told Eric we were so busy that I don’t feel like we had time to mourn.

We came home late on Sunday, October 12th. It would have been Bill’s 60th birthday. Texas Longhorns won the day before – he would have been happy.

We love him and we miss him terribly. Praise the Lord that we have a hope that is beyond this world. We will see him again one day, but until then we will hold on to the memories. His cousin spoke at his funeral. She mentioned a song called, “I love you Bill, I always will.” So true.