She sounds like a beautiful, caring and stong woman.

 

Thank you, toots, for posting this. It was really hard to read through all the tears. We don't know them, however, was really hoping for a miracle for this family.

 

Every time PH and I do the cancer walks, our donations always go to the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation. It is a wonderful organization! I will have to check out this other foundation...I have never heard about it.

 

God be with this family.

Wow. What a touching letter. May God bless this family and keep them in his arms!

Their faith is so strong and it's obvious that their love for each other was great. May God comfort this family and give them peace.

May she be held high for her courage and be strong for her and the children .

Yeah, I was deeply saddened by the news yesterday that Keith had passed away, although I know that was God's plan for him. Keith has taught me one thing - it may not always seem that way and we may not always understand it, but God always has a plan for us.

 

I am making plans to attend the visitation in Belfry on Friday. God Bless that family.

This is the first time I've been on here since Keith passed away. He spent Friday with his little girls celebrating father's day. They had baked him a cake and made him some cards. His best friend drove down to Tenn to be with him + his family. He had the people that were by his side the most there with him as I understand and he was able to enjoy his last day with the people he loved the most before he slipped into the coma later that weekend.

I think Keith was 31 or 32. It is like reliving a part of my life all over again as I lost my uncle (Eddie Butler who was my only brother pretty much) the same way. Healthy as could be, 2 precious little girls and bam he too got hit out of nowhere with cancer at age 38. He too passed on. Like Keith he lived by the cross and never doubted why him. They were two special people that I think God chose to witness to as many people as possible. There is no doubt that they faught with everything they had because they wanted to raise their daughters and enjoy their wives, family + friends. I feel like it would be doing them an injustice if I didn't share what they stood for and what we should learn from both of them IMO.

Eddie and Keith were both very young and had the world by the tail. Both smart young men with great jobs, incredible wives, great friends and 2 precious little girls each. Out of nowhere both are hit with cancer and their worlds would never be the same. They both had a choice when they got their cancer: 1. Wallow in self pitty or 2: Be couragous and teach others through their faith. They both faught with everything they had but along the way they touched so many lives. The lessons I've learned from them are:

That you can be in your darkest of days and know that God will always be by your side. Life is tough sometimes but there are always people out there who have it worse.

It's easy to get caught up with the hustle and bustle of life BUT your attitude determines just about everything you do!

Life is too short not to be doing a job you love.

You can control work or let your work control you.

If there are things getting in the way of you spending quality time with your family then you need to sit down and prioritize what you are doing with your life.

You need to give some serious thought on how you want to be remembered when you are gone. If you died today would you be happy with the legacy you have left? If so then great, if not then what are you waiting for?

Have goals, have a vision, have a plan to get there then go out and execute your plan. Don't be afraid of success or failure. The hardest step to starting something big is the first step.

My uncles favorite quote was: Everyday is a holiday!

Enjoy life or change what you are doing with your life!

Make time for family, friends and God.

Learn to not take things for granted.

Work hard, play hard.

Always keep your faith in the Lord.

I could go on and on but I'll give it a rest. I know I've rambled some but it is good therapy for me and I feel like both Keith and Eddie would want others to learn from what they have gone through. Life is precious! Enjoy it! Don't hold grudges especially with family members or friends. Always think if I or they died tonight am I OK with how we left things? That's a pretty good test. I'm 33 and I am proud to say that I tell my mom, dad, sisters and kids I love them everytime I leave them. Heck I even tell my friends sometimes!

It seems like the other day my little cousins were babies just losing their daddy. One just graduated high school and the other is getting out of college and having her first baby in Aug. Time marches on but we have all tried to share from our experience. Keith's wife and girls are going to have a lot of tough times. I encourage you all to continue to pray for them. Once we get the info on setting up the girls college fund I'll post the info. I appreciate the prayers you all have sent his family. They are very special people! I am flying with my kids to Colorado Friday (their first time flying 1+4 years old) so I'm not going to get to go to Belfry. I would have loved to meet some of you all! I do plan on keeping in touch with some of you to try to earn as much money as we can for the kids and we are going to try to start a bone marrow drive at Morehead's homecoming each year in Keith's honor.

Thank you for your post, stick. And thank you for sharing Keith's story with us. May God be with his wife and two beautiful little girls.