10 years today...

I miss you, daddy.

R. J. Z. "Boonie"

March 19, 1933 ~ March 16, 1999

A Most Beautiful Man

I remember his eyes.
They were a pale baby blue
And in them shone love
And gentleness too.

His smile, like his laughter
So honest and pure
Reflected the heart of a man
I will always adore.

I remember his hands,
So big they dwarfed mine;
And the moment I held them
For the very last time.

All that he taught me
Including patience and love;
He taught by example
With a grace from above.

I remember my father,
My daddy, my light
His faith, strength and wisdom
Will always shine bright.

How I wish to look into those eyes once more.
See the smile, hear the laughter and hold the hand,
Of my daddy, my hero;
A most beautiful man.

copyright: Wendy M. Z.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eulogy

as delivered by Father P. Sanders

March 19, 1999

wife: Lil R

son: Brian, deceased

daughters: Wendy and Vicki

grandchildren: Briana, Jude and TiJonne

"adopted" sons: Michael and Ross

His Family:

God brought Boonie and Lil R together in High School. They attended archrival schools, with Lil R here in ******* and Boonie at Lutcher High as a football player. Boonie crossed the line of the archrival at a football game and asked Lil R out. After dating for one year Boonie didn't show up for a date and Lil R got mad that he had stood her up. Boonie said his car broke down but Lil R thought this was just an excues. They separated for the next four years, but thought about each other often. Lil R would ride in front of Boonie's house with a friend to try and get a glimpse of him. Boonie went so far as to have a friend steal Lil R's picture so he could have it by his bed when recovering from a broken leg.

Finally, after four years, Lil R heard a false rumor that Boonie was getting married. She saw him at a friend's wedding and asked him why he hadn't invited her to his upcoming wedding. Boonie said that SHE would be the one he would marry. His prediction came true and they were married on September 22 19** at St. ******* Church by Msgr. Eyraud.

Wendy wrote some beautiful reflections about her father that tell a lot about the kind of dad he was. She writes:

"My father taught me, Vicki and Brian many things. He always had time for us. He taught us how to play cards, monopoly and checkers; he taught us how to fish, shrimp and crab; but, most importantly, he taught us love, faith, patience, compassion and kindness. Not merely with words, but with how he lived his life each and every day."

That's a great testimony to the kind of father Bonnie was. He taught his children self~esteem: Whenever the family would go to their camp down Blind River he would always bait the hooks for his daughters, since they didn't want to touch the worms, and no matter how small the fish they caught, he would always say they were beautiful. He taught his children about his faith: the memory of Vicki is enjoying going to Mass because she would rest her shoulder on her dad's side during mass. He made sure they went. He taught his children kindness and patience. He was always a man of serenity and peacefulness. How many kids can say their dad never yelled or got angry. When asked why, Boonie would always say that life was too short to get angry.

He taught his children to EXPRESS LOVE: Ross said he had a hard time telling his own dad how much he loved him, bit it was so easy to tell it to Mr. Boonie.

HIS FAITH:

A Man dedicted to Sunday Mass.

A Man dedicted to prayer. He would wake up every morning at 4:30 to say his prayers and his rosary. That is where he found his strength.

His faith would be tested. He had to rely on the Lord through the trials of his own health and weak heart as well as dealing with the tragedy of the death of his own son, Brian.

During those difficult days following Brian's death, he was strong to help support his wife and daughters and that strength can only come from a deep faith that believes death is not the end but the beginning for those who trust in their faith.

HIS NEW LIFE:

Boonie's death is hard for us to accept because he was relatively young. As Wendy writes in her eulogy:

"I wasn't ready to let him go, none of us were. We still had so much left to do and say, but the choice of when he went home to heaven was not ours to make. It was God's, and I know in my heart that God's choice is always the right one, even though it is so very hard for us to understand."

And Boonie is still doing wonderful things from heaven after only a few days up there. This past week his granddaughter Briana was taking a religion test in school. She remembered everything but one question. She just didn't know the answer. She prayed at her desk to her paw~paw and he gave her the answer ~~ She got an A+.

And, he worked one more miracle. Brian's death had been hard on the whole family and it particularly effected Wendy. Her faith was tested. Going to church became difficult and painful. She stopped.

Boonie prayed often that she could return to the Sacraments. Yesterday Wendy received the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Today she will recieve the Eucharist. Her faith has been made whole again by a power that Boonie didn't have on this earth, but which he has now in God's presence.

We have much to be thankful for and we appropriately remember the words of St. Paul for Boonie this day:

"The time of my departure has come, but I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Now there is laid up for me the great crown of righteousness. Amen. Alleluia.