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In Memory
Bill Watts November 29, 1932 - February 14, 2002 One Hell of a Guy ("Forever in our hearts") This is something I'm sure Bill always did, the best he could. Until several years ago, I really didn't know him that well. I had an opportunity to do something for him and from that came about the circumstances that allowed us to renew our acquaintance. I am so happy we could. I would not have missed the experience for anything in the world. One of the best things I think I can say about Bill is that he is a genuine person. With him, what you see is what you get. Fun-loving with a quick wit, he always brightened any gathering. I know everybody really enjoyed seeing him at the reunion at my house. Bill was serious about many things, too. He was especially serious about family. If there was anything that he could do to help a family member, he would, no matter the sacrifice. He was very concerned about keeping the family together and also putting together the family history. To this end, he compiled the CD each one of us received at the reunion. That meant many hours of work, scanning in photos and putting names and dates with faces and places. He didn't have it all, but he got a lot of it together. I don't know how we can finish this now, but we need to try. Bill was not perfect, but I think he always tried to do what was right. I'm sure he had some of the traits we all share, but I'm certain that he was an honest person and the scales balanced in his favor at the end of most days. During the time I spent with him, I learned about him some things I don't really know he intended to teach. I learned that he loved each of us dearly. I KNOW that he absolutely adored Aunt Theresa. I know he was more concerned for others than himself. He had things to get done before he could leave. He got most of them done. Make no mistake about it, he knew he had little time left. I think he knew that better than anyone else. Bill appreciated many things in life. I found we had many things in common and I wish I had made an effort sooner to get to know him better. I know I would have had a great time with him. I don't get the feeling he was lonely, but I think he missed his family. That's too bad that we didn't/couldn't give him one thing that would have given him great happiness; our company. In closing for now, I can only summarize by saying Bill was a person who was very concerned about the welfare of his family, not just his own immediate family, but all of us. He was a very gregarious person and we could all have benefited by knowing him better. Postscript Over the last three years since Bill passed away, I've spent time with Aunt Theresa and I had spoken with others about Bill. What I've come to find is this. In essence, we've been robbed of a relationship with some real people. I'm not just speaking of Uncle Bill, but Aunt Theresa and her kids as well. I think we are partly to blame for this. When we each left home, we were in full control of our lives, whether we knew it or not. I know know from personal experience that the process of recognizing this in each of us was an agonizingly slow one. It's unfortunate, though, because if we could have come out of this process sooner, then we might have realized earlier that Bill and his family are just good people. Getting some of the past from Aunt Theresa's perspective has helped me to realize that we were wrong in the assumptions we seemed to have made. I've also realized that, as we differ in age, we also differ in the clarity of our memories and in how we were each affected by our experiences. Those of us who were less mature reacted to our experiences in a more childish way. Some of us may have blocked out some events, not knowing how to deal with them at the time. The older brothers and sisters have a more clear idea of what happened and, understandably, are more angry. The net effect this seems to have had on our relationship with Bill and Terri's family, is that we don't seem to have gotten very close to each other. (When you consider how long it's taken for all of us to get closer, I guess you can see how this could happen.) I think this is a shame for all of us. We've lost out on good family relations. If we learn anything from this, we should try to learn that we all only have a certain amount of time here on earth. When we decide not to include someone, especially family, there had better be a damned good reason. This page was last updated on 03/21/05.
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