I wrote the following post several months ago but wasn't quite ready to publish it. It is almost Christmas now and I have been feeling the absence of my father-in-law. The holidays are hard when you've lost someone you love and I miss him. I want to share these memories now for my sake and for everyone else who loved him.(Written Aug. 2009)
Forgive me for a very personal post but I think it's important for me to try to write what I can about Glenn's dad and the details surrounding his passing. Tuck passed away on Saturday July 18 early in the morning. It was quite sudden for us and we were completely devastated when we got the call. In hindsight we realize that for the last 3 weeks of his life he was very sick. We found out earlier in the summer that his leukemia was back so he was supposed to start chemo again in June. Instead of being able to start though he just kept running into complications which kept him in and out of the hospital for those last few weeks. He never complained about any of it he just kept doing what he could to get better. On Friday the 10th his vitals were so bad that they admitted him to the ICU and they had to use the defibrillator at one point to stabilize his heart rate. Fri, Sat and Sunday were some of his worst days as they fought to keep his vitals stable. Glenn and the kids were up that weekend for Good Neighbor Day and they visited him on Saturday, the 11th. He really couldn't visit with them but he knew they were there and Glenn and their former Bishop were able to give him a blessing. Dylan and I did not go with them to Idaho and of course now I seriously regret that decision. It was particularly painful to miss that last chance to see him. Tuck got better throughout the week and they were able to move him out of the ICU on Thursday night. We were encouraged and thought that he would continue to get better. The details are sketchy but early on Saturday he became sick again, (he had been fighting an infection in his stomach and began throwing up again) they called Kathy to let her know that he wasn't doing well and she asked if they could move him back to the ICU. The nurses began prepping him for the move but he did not make it that far. The doctor called Kathy back to say he was gone. I'm sure his vitals were plummeting again and with his bad heart he just wasn't strong enough to make it. He and Kathy had had a chance to talk about resuscitation earlier in the week and had decided against it so there was not much that they could do. Like I said it was a complete shock to us and we are still coming to terms with it. We know he completed his mission and that he is well now and happy but it will take awhile to heal the hole left in our hearts.
The funeral was on July 22 which was Glenn's birthday. I was worried about it being on that day at first but Glenn thought it would be an honor to share the day with his dad. Glenn mentioned in his talk that he and his dad met 41 years earlier on July 22 and would say farewell on the same day. Glenn, his brother Dale, his nephew Chanse and the family's former Bishop all spoke at the funeral. It was a really wonderful service and was packed to the back of the cultural hall. There was a lot of humor and also powerful testimony borne so I think Tuck would have liked it. There was also great potential for missionary work and he would have liked that too.
Thomas Gerald "Tuck" Taylor was my father-in-law and he was one of the best men I've ever known. We met just a couple of times before "the big meeting" when Glenn and I told his parents we wanted to get married. The first thing Tuck said was
"well that doesn't give us much time." He was referring to himself and Kathy because they had not yet been through the temple. It wasn't a complaint or a question, just a statement because he knew and was willing to do what needed to be done. I feel like Tuck was the greatest convert from Glenn's mission. While Glenn was out his dad started making changes in his life that had brought him to the point of being ready to go through the temple. We gave him the reason and he was stalwart from then on.
One thing I'm really grateful for is how often we got together through the years. From the beginning and especially after we started having kids they came down a lot, or we would go up. Some of my best memories are the vacations we took together. After Tuck retired a few years ago they would come down whenever he needed to see William again. He and William were particularly close but he was always close to the little ones. I have so many pictures of my kids with Grandpa. He loved his family so much and we loved him in return. Dylan summed it up well when he said "Grandpa was a stud."
Things that I loved about Tuck:
The candy in his shirt pocket for the kids.
The cane he made William when he broke his leg.
His sense of humor, especially his one liners.
The stories he would tell.
His Western books and movies.
His love of dogs- real, animated and the Hollywood talking variety.
The way he said
"that was a pretty cute show" after he saw a talking animal movie.
Watching Tom and Jerry with the kids.
His hat collection.
His shed.
Fishing.
The grape drink he would mix up for William in one of his Diet Pepsi bottles.
The little things he fixed in my house.
Calling me
"young lady".His hands- I can still see every detail of them.
His kindness.
His humility.
His love.
I will always remember these things about my father in law but there is one more thing that I truly cherish. Every single time for as long as I can remember he said the same thing to me whenever we said goodbye. He would give me a hug and say,
"Well young lady, take care of them kids, and don't let 'em get the best of you." It seems a simple good natured admonition but I know that
"don't let them get the best of you" was just for me. He would look me right in the eye as he said it, like he wanted to make sure I understood. He was a man of compassion and empathy, so I always felt like he was saying that he knew. He knew how hard things are sometimes in life and families and marriages, and he wanted me to take care of me.
My message to him in return is one of profound gratitude which I will carry in my heart until we meet again. I know I will see him again- we are an eternal family.



