elmosgofer

I am Elmo's daughter-in-law, Sharon, who lived with him to care for him in his older age. Barry and Winslow, his sons, are very honored by this thread that you all have created in memory of Elmo. If he were alive to see this, he would jump for joy. He loved you guys better than he did us, I believe. Ha. Ha. He talked about you from sun-up to sun-down. This last time he was hospitalized, Barry and I stopped by before going to Florida for a much-needed rest before he was to come home. He was looking at a ball schedule to see when the next game would be. He asked us what day it was. It was Tuedsay, and your next game was to be on Thursday. He counted on his fingers and said, " I don't guess I can make that one." Thanks for honoring Elmo and thanks for giving him so much pleasure in his life. It kept him going every time he was ill. All we had to do was talk about the games and he perked up immediately. We were not sure if you wanted the net in the casket, but we left it in there since it seemed so fitting. When his wife died about 2 years ago, he placed his tear-and-snot-filled handkerchief in her casket because she hated those nasty things. His nose ran constantly so he had tons of hankies. I got him back by placing mine under his arm in his casket. He was such a jokster that he would have gotten a kick out of it. That seemed a fitting way to let him go. I was the one with him when he actually passed away. He said he SAW Margie, his wife and Jean Hope Henry. He kept asking me where she went. I told him that she was waiting for him. He got agitated when that was all that I would say so I told him that she went to heaven a few years ago. He looked at the ceiling in thought and that was the last he spoke. He died at 4:50 a.m. the next morning. He just stopped breathing. He did not suffer at all. Rest assured that you ballplayers were fresh in his mind when he died. He loved each of you for the pleasure you gave him. Thanks again. If you have questions about Elmo, please email me at sabaker@insightbb.com. We plan to leave Feb.15 to finish the trip that was interrupted and stay 1-2 weeks, but I will read your posts when we return. Sharon