'I woke up this morning with thoughts of you, & watched as the clock approached 10:47 am. At that moment, it marked the 5-year anniversary of the moment you slipped from our lives. You are missed as much today as you were then ... by those of us still here. I hope Mom is with you. I love & miss you both so terribly, but hope you're together.'

'Dad, I'm missing you so much today that my heart actually aches. Life is getting harder, as we knew it would, but it's one of those things that you can spend years preparing for and still not be ready when it hits, because it hits from all around you. Part of me is glad you're not here for it, and another part would give anything to receive a little fatherly advice. Please, Dad ... if it's permitted from where you are, watch over me and guide me through this.'

'Oh, how I wish you were still here to celebrate turning 86 today. I gotta say ... I didnt think it would still hurt this much nearly two years later. Turns out that those "healing hands of time" ya hear so much about equate only to the adjustment. You accept because you have no choice, and it might take the edge off, but the wound doesnt really close. Were you able to see from your lofty perch that LT put a beautiful ring on my finger last September? One week shy of a year after we started this journey together. I feel in my heart that youd be so happy for us both, but would give just about anything to hear it and see it. He makes me very happy, and I wish you were here to share it with me/us. Happy birthday, Dad. I love you, still and always.'

'Hi, Dad. I haven't written in a couple months because it's been suggested that to continue doing so wasn't ... healthy. That I was only prolonging the hurt of living life without you, which was so intense that I decided to take the advice. But on this day that would have been your 85th birthday, I'm compelled to break that silence and mark the day. Even more ludicrous than writing notes to someone who isn't here, I guess, is to wish you a "happy" birthday. I want to believe you're in a place and position to hear me and to BE happy, and therein lies the rub; the not knowing. But I'll never let go of the hope. 
Mom's doing better. Oh, she still cries, and still talks to your pictures all over the house, and still wonders if it will ever get any easier. It's worse when a problem arises, and she looks up and says "tell us what to do, babe." But then we all pull together and manage to find a solution. The healing hands of time really do exist, thank goodness ... so while living without you will never be "easy", we continue to get stronger because we have no choice. 
LT and I are still goin' strong. I love him, Dad, and he loves me back. I wonder if it would surprise you, or if you knew it would come one day. We both feel that you would wholeheartedly approve, but would give anything to see you smile and actually witness your approval. You'll love knowing that every time he does something goofy, he laughs right out loud and explains "I heard your dad saying "you dumb s***!" 
We love you, Dad, and we miss you beyond description. HAPPY BIRTHDAY.'

'No matter how hard Ive tried to ignore Christmas this year so I wouldnt have to face it without you, its still heading straight for me like a runaway train. There is no measure to how much youll be missed on Christmas Eve. Who will put the Glenn Miller and Ira Ironstrings Christmas CDs in to play? Who will lead us in our traditional family toast to loved ones who are not with us? Those have always been YOUR jobs! And now I understand why some traditions die; because those who brought them to life arent here to continue them, and for some things in this life there simply are no substitutes.

'MAN these 7 months havent exactly passed in a blur. They have dragged, which Im sure wouldnt be the case if you were still here. I dont mind telling you the holidays are going to be SO tough without you! In fact, I would give anything if we could just bypass them altogether, but I cant get anyone to agree to that. And truthfully, in my heart I can almost hear you saying Kath, youre ruining Christmas again, just like you did the year I tried to get everyone to draw names to save money, remember? You did love Christmas, and I always have too. Until now. I hope the warmth it used to bring comes back someday, and this bah, humbug mindset fades just a little. 
Youd be happy to know we got your patio/plants winterized for another season, but a little less happy to know that we didnt get it done before the first freeze! Sorry. We took the weathermen at their word, which was wrong. But we DID at least get all the plants moved up to the patio before it hit, and hopefully that will prove to have been a saving grace. Something else that would make you happy is knowing Mom added another Barbie ornament to her collection. She loves to talk about how much the two of you enjoyed sharing that collection; she for the ornaments, and you for her! Weve also ordered a new ice maker for the kitchen fridge, which Larry will change out this weekend, and one of your watering stations (in the front flower bed) blew a sprinkler head last night, which Jerry will change out this weekend. 
Mom's doing pretty good. Still cries, of course, but is getting stronger all the time - even though she doesn't see or want to admit it. Simply put, she's adjusting because she has no other choice, and she keeps going because "that's what my babe would want, and I want him to be proud of me." 
I miss you so much, Dad. LT tells me hes right here with you, and he wants you to be happy.Sometimes I can feel you nearby, and sometimes I cant. But I love you to the moon and back and always will and if God will allow it, Id really like for YOU to be my guardian angel; for you to go on being my champion, in death as you were in life, always and forever.'

'I thought about you throughout the day yesterday the 6-month mark and every time I started to log into this site to talk with you, I got interrupted. I guess you know Moms doing a good deal better, physically. It wasnt spinal meningitis after all that landed her in the hospital; or if it was, the 3 days worth of steady antibiotics they pumped into her prior to the spinal tap took care of it. She needs to eat more, and thats and thats an ongoing battle. Emotionally shes still struggling with the reality that youre not coming back. She talks to you a lot. Do you hear her?

'It seems I've made up my mind to send you a message on the monthly "anniversary" of the day you left us. Funny ... anniversary used to be synonymous with happiness. Anyway, I'm a day late this month because Mom's in the hospital and has been since Wednesday evening. Needless to day, that's where I'm spending all my time. In fact, at this very moment, I'm sitting outside the radiology lab at Northeast Baptist, waiting for them to finish performing a lumbar puncture (a.k.a. spinal tap) on her to rule out or confirm spinal meningitis. As if it weren't bad enough that this week has brought with it a huge amount of fear, I look out the window from the chair I'm sitting in at this very moment, across the driveway and up 3 floors and see the window of the room in which I last saw you. The room in which I held your hand and kissed you goodbye. I had to smile yesterday morning, after a particularly bad night, when God let me know via the hospital PA system that you're here with us. I was in search of coffee, feeling very scared, tired, and alone, when I heard a voice overhead say 3 times "cardiology to oncology room 310." Yeah ... that same room. Anyway, Mom is very sick now, Dad, and I need desperately for her to get well and come home. It's not time for her to join you yet. We haven't fully recovered from losing YOU, and I just do not believe any of us are up to more heartbreak. She'll rejoin you soon enough, but hopefully it will be at a time when we are better equipped to let her go ... a very, very, very long time from now.

'Well, I gotta tell ya this has been the longest 4 months Ive ever lived through. A lot has happened since you left us, but I think you'd be proud of how weve all met each new challenge, especially Mom. She still cries, of course, (as do we all), and asks when it will get better, but then adds that "the healing hands of time" are helping her adjust; she just wishes they'd work a little faster so the ache would ease up a bit. It does seem, though, that as if losing you werent enough, all hell broke loose when you went away. You'll be happy to know ... the plumbing problems under the house have been addressed and resolved, and though it broke our hearts to replace the hose reels you built and mounted, it became obvious that it was necessary when the water pressure running through the hose blew one of the right off the wall! Dont worry their replacements, while not reels like yours, are attractive and we think youd approve. Also, big red is now in big D's possession, per your request, and the registration and state inspection have been renewed and the oil changed in Moms car. 
Mom said the other day I wish I could get an email from your dad, or the phone would ring and Id hear his voice on the other end. That really would be so excellent. I asked her once a couple months ago what shed do if granted a 5-minute visit with you; how would she spend that time? Without batting an eye, she said Id ask him what its like where he is, and how hes feeling, and if all the pain is gone, and if hes happy, and if he misses me like I miss him. We love and miss you more than there are words to express, Dad, and you are alive and well in our hearts.'

'Sixty-six years ago today, my mother looked into your eyes and said "I do", and you looked into hers and said "I do, too." You spent sixty-two of those years being my dad, my mentor, friend, and my confidante, and I couldn't have asked for better. Gentler, maybe ... less opinionated, definitely. But not better! Life has not been easy for ANY of us without you; least of all for Mom. But it does go on, and so must we. We miss you, Dad, and will love you always. Happy anniversary.'

'It's hard to believe it's only been two months today since you left us. It feels like so much longer. I hope you left this world assured of our love for you, and confident that you made our lives so much better than they would have been had you not been a part of it. We all miss you so much. Just when we think the pain and the tears have let up, another siege washes over us, without warning, like some gigantic wave with a really mean undertoe. But I've decided that if those waves are what's to keep us mindful of the tremendous fortune that was ours throughout the years we enjoyed with you, we should embrace them and get back up as quick as we can to await the next one. I, for one, would rather spend the rest of my life in tears than to dry up and forget you were ever here. (Yeah, like that could happen.) I love you, Dad.'

'I realize how stupid this is, Dad ... posting a message here as if I'm writing directly to you, and as if you'll actually read it ... and I'll stop eventually. It's just the closest thing I've got to making contact with you, and I have an inexplicable need to do it. You'll be gone a month on Sunday, which feel inconceivable. Where the pain is concerned, it seems like yesterday, but in terms so the emptiness you left, it seems like a lifetime. What I wouldn't give to see your smile and hear your voice again.'

'Dad, you feisty devil, I want you to know I am thankful for being known as 'daughter #3' and I treasure the moments shared with you in your world of wonderful music, love of life, great humor and single malt scotch. You are entrenched firmly in my heart and I love you...forever.'

'Dear Sweet Uncle Al,, 
 I love You way more than you er imagine. You helped shape my early childhood,( I am very proud of that). 
 May you find the peace you were always searching for!!!Tell Dad, Doug, and Rick Hey for me!! 
I LOVE YA MAN!!! 
KENNY "Z" & ZACHERY "Z"'

'Were you watching your memorial service from a loftier perch, Dad? Oh, how I'd love to talk to you about it, and hear you say "It's exactly what I wanted! Family, Pete Fountain, Dave Brubeck, (zero organ music!), a flattering photo slideshow, and the callow youth revealing some long-kept secret truths. Yeah ... it was everything I hoped it would be!" Lord, how I miss you.'

'Blessings to your family! I wish you comfort in the knowledge that Al is with his Heavenly Father, without pain and with his loved ones who await his presence.'

'You showed me how to be a man. I love you, Dad, and I'll never stop missing you.'

'I was sorry to hear that Al passed away. I have many fond memories from our work relationship. May God be with the family and give you comfort.'

'Prayers and love to the Rountree family. May God embrace all of you during this difficult time.'

'SO SORRY TO SEE AL'S OBITUARY IN THE PAPER...OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.....LOVE BUDDY & BECKY'

'POPOS!!! 
You were the captain of our family's ship. 
I have admired and loved you for as long as I can remeber. 
Your opinion and approval was paramount. 
The days that we spent, out by your pool, talking, laughing, playing... They are memories that enrich the fabric of my soul. 
I am so grateful that you and my husband got to share such a special relationship. And that my daughter got to know what a special grandfather you were. 
All my love to you, from "Bubbles"'

'You and Odie are among the most sweetest and good hearted people I've ever known. I remember being a kid and moving to your neighborhood and y'all welcoming us with open arms. Has been a friendship that I cherish to this day. You will be greatly missed. I hope you're hanging out and having a drink with my dad:)'

'You left an awful, gaping whole when you left this world, Dad. I know that eventually, when enough time passes, the edges of that whole will soften and cease to cut the hearts that are, at the moment, in shreds. We're taking care of mom. Love and miss you so much.'

'I miss you so much, my darling husband. I will never stop loving you. I light this candle and raise my glass to you.'

'To all the family, especially Odie, we want to expresss our sincerest condolences. Al was always the life of the party and he will be missed dearly.'

'We are so happy that we got to know Al and we will treasure the times that we were blessed to be with him'

'I had the honor of meeting Mr. Rountree and getting to know he and his wife for a short time. During this time they both became like family to me and I looked forward to seeing their smiling faces each day. A truly amazing couple and I know he will be missed. God Bless you all and I pray for God's comfort during this difficult time. Shelli'

OBITUARY

Alvin L. Rountree

March 3, 1930 – April 20, 2014

Porter Loring Mortuary - McCullough

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