Walter Bailey Young - In Remembrance

Hey, Y'all,
Just exactly nine months ago today, on July 27, 2010, my beloved Walter Bailey Young went to be with the Lord and is sorely missed. He was a graduate of Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee and taught middle schoolers in Jefferson County for twenty four years. He was a member of New Market Baptist Church where he served as a deacon for several years. When Walter (Dubby) introduced himself to people here in Texas, he would say, "I'm a Tennessee Man, and I love the Lord!" We had just moved to Texas three weeks earlier, moving him from a nursing home in Tennessee to Bishop Davies Nursing Home here, to be close to our daughter, and her family. 

Let me tell you about Dubby in his own words: 
"I was born in Honaker, a little mining town in Virginia. My dad was a hard rock miner. We moved to Jefferson City, Tennessee when I was only three months old. He was injured in the mines of Jefferson City when I was only three and not long after my younger sister, Bonnie Jean was born. He passed away from the injuries he received, and my mother was left to raise four children alone. 

My mother encouraged me to go on to school and was largely responsible for my becoming an educator. I was born with two handicaps, Amblyopia in my left eye, and an extended jaw. The Amblyopia was never corrected, but when I was 53, I had surgery to correct the "lantern jaw", making a huge difference in how I felt about my appearance.

When I was fifty years old, I married Ruby and ended my bachelorhood, and gained a ready made family of children, which grew to contain grandchildren and great grandchildren. I also got more brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews. What a great deal for me!

I have read the Bible through more times than I can remember. My mama really believed in the power of prayer, and so do I. One time when I was a child and really sick, she went out onto the back porch to pray for my recovery. She talked to the Lord like she knew Him and when she came back inside, she said, 'You are going to get better, and you are always going to be my good boy, aren't you?' I said, 'Yes', and I have always tried to be."

My Dubby was a man who could feel the pain of others who were handicapped, the unlovely, the broken-hearted. I believe that was because he always associated them with himself because of his physical flaws. He was not a handsome man as some would describe, but his heart was made of tender compassion, and he was handsome to me, because I knew the man. He was husband, father, grandfather and greatly beloved and respected by all those who knew him.

We were not wealthy, but had a wonderful life together, and I miss him. 

This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. I want to wish a Happy Birthday to our great granddaughter, Hannah Gabrielle. She is ten years old. Wow, Daniel and Whitney, just three years away from being a teenager!! Congratulations, Hannah! I love you.
Bye for now. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. More later.