Doc

Although Doc's been gone for months now, New Year's Eve was the date of his memorial service. We didn't go of course, because it was out of town on the year's worst day to drive, but I put together this piece, printed it out, and had Ed and Anne carry it up for me. I'm reproducing it here to share and save it.

Doc
We remember Doc. He'll always have a special place in our hearts.

I met Doc the first day I was in Chico. I went to a house he shared with Loren, whose cousin Rick was visiting from out of town. So on my first day in Chico, I met the man I was destined to marry, and the man who was destined to marry us.

We remember playing poker after Doc's first stroke, when he had lost a lot of verbal ability. We thought the regular poker game would help him regain some words. We patiently waited while he struggled to call the game he wanted to deal. But when he called Royal Muggleslices, the whole table cracked up.

We remember explaining to folks that Doc not only married us, but his marryin' prowess extended farther than most. After all, he married his brother, he married his sister, and he married his father to his mother.

We remember lots of game nights, around tables, with dice rolling or tiles slapping or cards flipping.We remember lots of parties and good times. We remember his intelligence, and his kindness, and his habit of saving everything that could remotely be useful--and the more remote the possibility of usefullness, the better.

We remember Doc. He'll always have a special place in our hearts.