Joe Hill - A Special Angel

A Special Angel – Joe Hill
 
For nearly fourteen years Danville and Pittsylvania County
was blessed to be in the presence of a special young man,
Joseph Bradie Hill, known as Joe. He imparted a cheerful
disposition with his perception of how life should be lived.
Joe had a contagious laugh and sense of humor that he shared
with everyone he met. In fact, people were drawn to Joe
because of his laughter and sense of humor. Joe was like a
magnet that could eliminate the doldrums by drawing his
friends into his world of kindness, sincerity, and
caring attitude.
The depth of gratitude shown by this remarkable teenager to
all of the people in his life is immeasurable. How many
thirteen year old children would apologize to their parents
because he had become sick? I don’t know many adults who have
the capacity to exhibit that much compassion to others while
suffering from their own physical affliction, but Joe did.
Joe enjoyed life by playing sports, telling stories and making
everyone around him feel special.
The truth is that he was the special one. Joe was a shining
light for others to follow. He lit up a room when he walked
through the door and I always loved that infectious smile
of his. His many friends are a testament to his loving
personality by writing  such wonderful tributes to a peer
who led by example or brought beauty into their lives with
his attitude. He was always helpful and always putting others
before himself. Joe leaves all of us with memories of a
Special Angel whom God gave to the world for thirteen short
years.
Joe, we thank you for these memories, for the laughter and the joy
you brought to each and every one of us through your kindred spirit.
I’m sure you are sitting at the Masters feet today telling Him of your
stories and antics here on earth and making Him laugh as you made
all of us laugh. Thank you, Joe, for touching our hearts in such a
unique way.
You leave us yearning for more of your friendship, more of your
dedication to bringing joy into other peoples’ lives.
All of us are better human beings because of the influence of one
special angel named Joe Hill.
 
 
Dena Hill and Larry Oldham  -
Larry and I were deeply touched by the
extraordinary life of Joe Hill.
Instead of our regular He Said She Said
column we wanted to share a tribute
to our friend. If you knew Joe, you know
why we are doing this. If you didn’t know Joe,
we wanted to share our feelings and our
deep sense of loss with you.

Kisses and Ice Cream

March 2011 Showcase Magazine

He Said

First of all let me say that “Yes I am happily married”.
Secondly let me say that you and I do not know each other
as well as we thought we did. After coming in third in
our attempt to play the “Newlywed Game” , it is obvious
that life as we know it is not life as we know it.
When I was asked who you most reminded me of and the
choices were Doris Day or Elizabeth Taylor , to me this
was a no brainer. You are classy, beautiful looking, and
have the grace of Elizabeth. Your answer was Doris Day.
I do have to give you credit though. When they ask
me what I thought you would say to the question ,”what
does Larry have too much of”? And you answered “Charisma”,
I thought that was a great answer thank you very much.
Now what I am going to suggest is that we sit down one day
and just go over all the answers that we may be ask if
we ever play the Newlywed Game again. Not that we ever
will mind you, it is just a way to be prepared. Sort of
like the Boy Scouts...always prepared. This should not
take too long as we can go back over the years we have
been writing this column and find most of the answers.
I knew when we started the game that we never agree on
anything so we probably would lose and we did. I think
of us as being winners in so many other ways that it
did not bother me to lose. We did get a gift card to
Stone Cold Creamery and I did get two kisses while we
were playing.
Ice Cream and Kisses....life don't get too much better than this.

She Said

Now I know why I love you so much. I don't want to call
you simple, but when all it takes to satisfy a man is
Ice Cream and Kisses, my role as a wife is going to be
pretty easy. Then reality strikes me and I remember you
are going to come home from work and ask me “what is for
supper”, I am going to have to bring the trash cans from
the front to the back because even though you parked in
the driveway, probably had to get out of your car to
move the trash cans, and still could not remember to
bring them around to the back. I will start to remember
all the times I will have to wash your clothes ,fold them,
put them in your drawers, and hang up fresh towels in the
bathroom for you when you shower. I will have to go to
the grocery store and buy the food, and then tote them
home and put them up in the cabinets. I will have to
wash all the dishes and put them up in the cabinets so
I will have clean dishes in the morning to fix your
breakfast. I will have to vacuum and dust the furniture
so the house is clean when your mother comes to visit.
I will do all of this , plus mow the yard, because I
chose to marry the man of my dreams who I can feed ice
cream to and give an occasional kiss. I would say I
am one of the luckiest girls in the world because you
chose me to do all these things for you.
You better be glad I like kissing and Ice cream.