Elmer Harvey Williamson

My grandmother used to tell me how fast time flew by and I thought she was crazy when I was a kid. It is at times like these that I realize how short life really is. Time seems to never end when you ar yound and busy doing whatever you need to do. But as time goes on, you realize it does go by faster than you expected it to. I am sure my dad realized this--from marrying my mom, to raising us kids--from babies, to toddlers, to teenagers, to youg adults, and before you know it, we ar having kids of our own! He watched all the grandkids grow and become teens and young adults. How did all this happen so fast?!!

My father has always been my rock, my Superman. He was the person I could always go to whenever I needed advice, something fixed or just to give me guidance when I needed it. Now he has gone to a better place where he will no longer have to fight his body, which fought against him these past few years. Even in the last of days my Dad was trying to stay strong for my mother. He didn't want to let her down and not be able to take care of her. That is what has bothered him the most whenever he was sick. Through thick or thin, he always put my mother first, even before himself, no matter what. Even with his cancer, he did not want to be sick from treatment and not be able to take care of her, so he declined the treatments! Thank God the cancer didn't come back!

My dad has had his balttles through life. His parents divorced when he was 17, and they left him to fend for himself...and that's exactly what he did.

You name it, my dad could figure out how to do it and get it done right. He could do anything he put his mind to:

• He became a truck driver, fireman, joined the Navy, became a heavy equipment operator, joined the operating engineers local 701 which he was in for 60 years.
• He could do electrical, sheet rocking, he could cut down big trees, he built my sister and I a house in the back yard when we were little girls for us to play in. He later turned that house into a shed.
• He was great at fishing, and not just any fish, the biggest...one time, it was a 42 lb Chinook. I was actually with him when he cought it and he was so proud of that fish.
• He has had a bulldozer roll over him, has had broken ribs, punctured lungs, broken collarbone, colon cancer, a heart attack that took 6 stints, a stroke...and through all of this he just kept coming back. Even at age 87, Good Sam accepted him into their REO program just because of his determination and perseverance!
• He later started having seizures, that knocked him back, but he STILL worked hard to get back each time, until he just couldn't get up again.
• He always had a smile on his face and I don't think there was a person that met him that didn't instantly like him.

I hope we all live life to the fullest with no regrets just like Dad did. My body aches, my heart is saddened, I have lost my Superman. I miss you Dad and love you.