That's called HONOR

 As I get ready to post my last few posts that will go into the 2013 blog book, I have one post that I can not leave out. It has been several months since Winkie (H.W.) left this earth. I have started several times writing a small tribute to him here. Each time, I could not find the words to pen about this man. Regardless, I wanted to write just a few words about our Winkie. . .

Commander Herman Winifred Presson

HERO
11 years, that is how long I knew you. While it is not so very long, I knew I  was very blessed to have met you at all. Hero ~ while that word is overused and under appreciated, I saw quickly in the time I knew you that indeed, you were a hero. And you were very deserving of the title. I do not casually say you were a hero to me, you trully fulfilled every bit of what I consider that word to mean. You embodied every attribute of a hero.

WORDS
There were so many words used at your memorial service to describe you. These words were all very fitting in describing the traits of the man you were. Honor, Duty,Humble, Selfless, Courage, Valor, Determination, Charity, Meek, Patriot.. . These are just a few of the words that come to mind when I think of you. And somehow even though these words are meant to describe the person that you were, somehow when I see these words and think of you, I instead see these words in actions in your life. You didn't just have honor...you lived honorably. You weren't just charitable, you lived out charity every day to all those around you from the greatest to the least of these (your pets)! Everything you did, seemed to be with others in mind. And all the while you were living out this great Christian life and example, you did it with complete humbleness of heart.

PATRIOT
I wish there were more like you.
As Fred said at your service - The men like you are a lost generation, patriots who sacrifice all for God, country and family are no more.
Thank you for living out a beautiful example of Christian charity in front of me. Thank you for the good man you were every day.

YOUR STORY
Of all the people I have known on this earth, the story of your life most intrigued me. Once, when I was cleaning up your house for you, I came across a journal Jo had given you. Inside he had penned a note to you asking to fill the pages of the journal with your life's stories. I was so excited! I had long wanted to hear more about your life. "How fantastic," I thought and eagerly turned the pages.  I was so disappointed when I flipped to the inside of the journal to find page after page of empty blank paper. "How sad," I thought.

Shortly after learning you had left this world behind, the memory of finding that journal came to me again. Except this time, it made perfect sense.  You lived every adventure, you made every sacrifice, you loved deeply, you lost greatly, you succeeded in life beyond most people's wildest dreams. You left behind a book of blank pages but your story was told in the living of your life.

Those blank pages of that journal tell beautifully the story of who you were. You did all these great things, that most people would consider so interesting. And yet, at the end of the day, you never saw yourself as this hero...as this person with a great story to tell. Because even though you were all those great things - honorable, brave, courageous, successful, you also were cloaked with characteristics of humility, meekness and above all, charity in putting others ahead of yourself. Those blank pages tell the true story of the man that you were. Thank you for showing me what being a hero really looks like.

 "The ones who work the hardest and give the most are the quietest about what they have done. 

That's called HONOR."