Joseph's Monument

Over four months later and Joseph's monument was finally planted in the ground today. This has been my dad's baby and I've been touched at the great care he has taken to get it just right. He struggled over the perfect wording and the perfect...everything. He even designed on the computer the logo that Joseph had created a long time ago, the same logo that he put on his hard hat for work. Dad got it perfect and better yet, the monument maker got it perfect. It's the strange symbol at the bottom of the front side, in case you were wondering.

So today it went in the ground. Dad called me from the cemetery and told me. He sounded peaceful. I think it gave him some closure. I asked him to take pictures because I wanted to see it. When I opened the email from him with the pictures attached, I lost it. It was like seeing his coffin all over again. Seeing his name and his birth and death dates...it was too much for me.

But it is a beautiful piece of work. And I feel good knowing that he is laid to rest next to my dad's parents. I imagine Grandpa's big strong arms wrapped around him, keeping him safe and secure. Mom and Dad finally decided not to sell Bofe's Trailblazer. It's the car pictured with Dad. It is Joseph. Everything about that car is so personal to him. The smell, the bling, the running boards and heated seats, everything. It's so decked out. I remember the first time I saw him pull up in that new car and I said "Holy cow, how can you afford that?" He just gave me that cocky smile and threw his head back with a "Wuzz uuup..."

Dad has been driving it since a few weeks after he died. I like to know that it's staying in the family and that it won't be sold. It makes me feel like he is still close by. He's not gone for good. I know we'll be reunited one day and it will be an awesome day, to say the least. But how I ache in the meantime. I miss you Bofie. I love you, my kid brother. I will never stop feeling like this. Hang on because we'll all be together again one day. You just finished the test sooner than the rest of us.