TetonTy

May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.

As many friends know, today was the second anniversary of the loss of our sweet Tyler. I chose to spend the day by myself with her faithful companion and best friend Milly, and to reflect on the past, cherish many wonderful memories, and at the same time, mourn our great loss.

Tyler spoke to Milly as if she were a human. Because of Tyler, Milly has a very large vocabulary. When you speak to Milly in people talk she looks you right in the eyes with her big brown lab/pug eyes and rotates her head from side to side as she comprehends what you’re saying.

As we started our day I spoke to her about what happened to her best friend 2 years ago today and she looked right at me, and turned her head a couple of times. When I stopped talking, she stared away with the saddest dawgy face I’ve ever seen her make. She knows what today is and she remembers and she misses.

Throughout the day Tyler and I shared emotions and many memories.

We remembered her coming home from the hospital and Beth and I driving her through the Gardners Barbecue so we could see her name up on Poppies sign welcoming his first grandchild home.

We remembered the arrivals of her two baby sisters and how much she loved Blair and Josie and what a good big sister she was to each of them.

We remembered the first time, as a tiny little thing, when she snow skied between my legs holding onto my ski pole as we headed down the mountain. Fearless and loving every minute.

We laughed about the time on the boat when she jumped off to swim with the dolphins.

We thought about all the great family trips: ski trips, outer banks, Cayman islands, our father daughter trip to Snowshoe/Aspen, and of course the cruise. We were able to laugh about our one and only family cruise when Tyler decided to try alcohol for the first time, straight vodka, and how sick she was all the way home from Miami.

We reflected on her strong will and determination to graduate from Carolina on time despite dealing with some very difficult health issues throughout the majority of her time there.

We reflected on how far she had come, how much she had accomplished and how she had found herself with God’s help in Jackson. And of course, we remembered how much the kids she worked with at the ranch loved her, miss her and how they and staff will never forget Tyler and Catherine.

We glorified how happy she was having made home in Jackson with Milly. We gave thanks for the many great friends she had made and for how loved she was by so many. We prayed and gave thanks for the full life she was living at the time the good Lord decided to bring her home.

To sum it all up today was a day of smiles, happy thoughts, special memories and yes of course, cries and tears.

Her friends and family love her and miss her and we will never forget her. Oh behalf of the family today thank you for the texts, Facebook comments, phone calls and everything else and for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. God bless Tyler.

Tyler and I share something very special in common. We both love Carolina basketball and Carolina was the National Champion each of our college senior years. I had a very strong belief that for Josie’s senior year in 2016 that once Carolina made it to the final game with Villanova, that Josie would join our little club. Well we all know how close the Heels came but it just didn’t quite turn out like I thought it was meant to be.

When Carolina made the Final Four again this year I began to see the pieces of the puzzle falling into place. In my heart I truly believe Tyler was working her magic to put UNC back in position to win another championship. Perhaps they fell short in 2016 so she could put me and Josie there in 2017?

Everything fell so magically into place starting with us qualifying for tickets through the Rams Club, then on to the airfare and lastly the lodging. Both of the Heels games were nail biters and there were moments when I think Josie lost faith. I can honestly say I never did. I wasn’t worried. We were put there for a reason and it was to experience the excitement and the joy of winning a national championship.

We both felt her spirit and her presence there with us. Thank you Tyler.

PS: And we all know Carolina didn’t have a chance of winning it Blair’s senior year. She and her Grandfather Poppie were working hard to put their Wolfpack demon devil spells on the Heels.

When the kids were little they didn’t want to listen to any of my music. Hard as we may have tried at the time to introduce them to our “great” music, they just didn’t like it. So around the house and on family trips the car CD was playing Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys or Hanson. Ok we got it. I didn’t like it either when my dad played Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett.

But then somewhere along the way Tyler became obsessed and developed a deep appreciation and love for the Beatles. When one of the “Fab Four’s” songs would come on she was always trying to figure out who was singing lead vocals.   She would quiz me “Is it John, Paul, George or Ringo? It wasn’t long before Tyler knew all the songs and which Beatle was singing lead vocals. She got it right every time. One of her favorite songs, mine too, was “I Am The Walrus”. The lyrics are pretty far out there but Tyler knew every word.

At Christmas one year, Tyler gave me “The Anthology”. She then took it from me and studied up on it. Later on she collected other memorabilia which are here in photos. I am blessed to have these with me now brought home from Wyoming.

I’m currently reading “Conversations with McCartney” and the other day in the gym on a cardio workout I chose to listen to a Beatles playlist on my device at the same time.  As I was reading a chapter where the writer tells  about John’s rough draft of the famous song on Sgt. Pepper “A Day In The Life” at the precise moment I was reading this part, the song “A Day In The Life” came up on the playlist on my headphones. A short time later there was a section about how as a young boy in Liverpool, Paul had to walk a long distance to catch the bus to school otherwise it would be full if he waited outside his “flat” to catch it. Paul described it as “The Magical Bus” and just as I was reading these words the hit “Magical Mystery Tour” came on my playlist.

Thank you Tyler. I know you were blessing me and touching me and I thank you and God for doing so. Me, your mom and your sisters need this from you. So, Tyler please say hello to John and George up there and when you find the answer, let us all know which Beatle was the Walrus.

It was a year ago today the Good Lord decided it was time for our sweet Tyler to come and sit beside him in heaven.  Quite often I think that it isn’t real, that it’s just a bad dream that we are all going to wake up from.  God we miss her terribly and she is in our thoughts and prayers constantly. Please be close to our hearts and souls and  strengthen Beth, Blair,  Josie and Milly and through your love and support guide them to do the things for themselves and others that may please you.  God bless them all on this day . And God bless Tyler.

It was about this time last year that Tyler traveled from Jackson WY to NC and the Outer Banks.   It was a very special and memorable time for her, her loved ones and so many others. Seems like it was just last weekend.

On her last night here after a great dinner with family and friends, we ventured out to a karaoke bar and one of the songs performed was Paul Simon’s “50 ways to leave your lover”.   On Tyler’s return to Jackson she climbed a middle Teton and at 11,000 feet she chose to sing this song.   Wow!   The video can be seen below.

After a big night of being “over served” Tyler was incapable of driving herself to Raleigh Durham for the return flight so arrangements were made for duel drivers to get her there just in time. Sometime along the way Tyler instagrammed Blair the photo and comments posted below.   It pulls at me everytime I look at it.

For some strange reason, a couple of Tylerisms came to memory today.

There was the time she was driving home alone from the outer banks to Rocky Mount and after crossing the Alligator River bridge onto the deserted stretch on east lake, there was a car broken down on the side of the road with two women and a man standing alongside.   Tyler, being the Good Samaritan and without fear of endangering herself to 3 complete strangers, pulled over to see what was the matter. They were out of gas and out of money. Tyler loads them in her car and drives them back to the service station at the river, pays for the gas and as they were about to leave, the man says to Tyler “I sure am thirsty, could you spare me a little?”. Without a second thought, Tyler hands him her last 5 dollar bill. A few minutes later he returns from the store with a Miller High Life Tall Boy!

Another time Tyler was on her way home from work at the Outer Banks YMCA when she sees a huge turtle in the road on the bypass attempting to cross 5 lanes of heavy traffic. Once again, she pulls over and without regard for her own safety she dodges cars from both north and south, grabs up the turtle and deposits it safely in a canal alongside the road.

Such a big heart in so many ways.

Today at 1PM it was 48 weeks ago that Tyler went to be with our Lord and Savior.   Saturdays are tough. Her family and friends miss her, but we all find a way to get through it knowing she is in a better place.   God Bless her.