David Slay........died February 8, 2011

I thought in the last couple of weeks how I would not have come to know this man if we had not moved to Sulphur 17 years ago. I am so thankful to have been able to know him. David is my grandmother's first cousin. I remember visiting him when I was in junior high school and my sister was playing in the girl's Sweet Sixteen basketball Tournament semi-finals in Lake Charles.

As we thought about David after learning of his passing 2 weeks ago, we thought of all the fun things about him. Mary-Catherine reminded us that he always had a twinkle in his eye. He really did even though I never really thought about it until she pointed it out. Always a joke on the tip of his tongue. We remembered him teasing Emma about being a cheerleader after she had a birthday party with a Sulphur High cheerleader teaching all the girls cheers. She would get so upset that he could NOT be a cheerleader. She did end up teaching him a cheer..........T................O..................R................S!!! TORS, go TORS!! He would do the hand motions and she would always tell him that wasn't right. She would get so frustrated and the more frustrated she became, the more happy David was. Even 8 years later, he still asked if Emma could teach him to be a cheerleader and when she would be a boy! Surely she was going to grow up to be a boy! And wouldn't he be a girl at some point!

David had such a way with people. He seemed to have a story with almost everyone he knew. I told his wife, Pat, that I didn't know too many other people who had so many fun stories to tell than we all did about David.

The thing that stands out to me the most was his unique way of bearing his testimony in Sacrament meeting. He always started with some unusual confusing statements.....almost always referring in someway or another to his "cousins" on the front row. He would talk about Mary-Catherine smiling or laughing at him, he would talk about me in some way. The last time he bore his testimony in January, he talked about "his pretty little cousins on the front row". My girls always listened and laughed and would get a little embarrassed. After his silliness David would finally get around to his real testimony. Even with his unconventional delivery, I could always feel the depth of his testimony and his knowledge of the gospel. I would usually end with tears in my eyes as my spirit was touched by his. And I would always look up with pride at being related to him.

Knowing David and Joan, his sister, has made be think about how amazing it was that their grandfather, my great-great grandfather, joined the church in 1898 in Sabine parish, Louisiana. I am so thankful for their strength and wisdom in aligning (that word sounds like something David would say) their families with the gospel so long ago. I am in awe of the numbers of descendants that are still strong in the gospel. Recently I have come to know of even more relatives in the Beaumont area who descend from that family and from Sabine parish. What a blessing it has been to my life that they taught, through words and actions, their children who in turn taught me, again through words and actions, the truth of the gospel. The sacrifices my ancestors gave through service in the gospel strengthens me as I struggle to teach my family.

I hope David is able to know what an impact he had on so many. I hope he knows that his life mattered............even though he was "barely hanging on: most of the time!! I hope he knows that I appreciated his testimony and concern for me and my family.