Charles Richard Short

I think about Charles all of the time.  I work in an industrial environment and come across issues often.  His memory keeps me focused and safe.
I lost a friend and miss him dearly.  I mostly remember walking to Krispy Kreme on Saturday mornings and sharing his family as my own.

Wow...so many memories...Don and Steve really got it right.  We were a pretty goofy and crazy bunch...But we had fun, and we didn't cause anyone trouble...not too much anyways.
  I think my best memory and the one that sticks out to me the most is when me and Nicole flew to Chicago to bring Charles back to Va.  It sticks out in my mind for many reasons.  I think the most important one is that is when I realized how much Charles and  Nicole truly loved each other.  I was always the young (and slightly goofier) one, but I could just tell they were destined to be together.  That trip was awesome and fun, and the long haul back in Charles' beat up civic was my first real adventure. 
  I have so many more...from the time Charles broke my surfboard in half with his head, to the time when we got  in a fight because i hit him with a rice krispy treat.  No matter what though, I will always consider Charles my brother and best friend.  I will try to post more stories as I remember them.

"Hub"

Austin this is another stroy about your dad.  Your dad loved to go with Aunt Kathy whenever she left the house.  From the time he just started talking he would ask, "Go bye bye Aunt Kaki?  Charles go Bye Bye."  and most of the time he would get to come with me.  On the times he could not go I would have to sneak out of the house.  One of our favorite things to do was to go bike riding.  Aunt Kathy had a bike that had a child seat on the back that your dad would ride in.  I would pack a snack for us and we would take some old bread to feed the ducks and seagulls.  Off we would go to Lincoln Park. We would sing songs as Aunt Kathy pedaled the bike.  His favorite song to sing was Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.  Once there we would play on the swing and slide, throw pine cones off the dock and look for frogs and guppies in the stream.  We would find the ducks and feed them bread.  If the ducks were not fast enough the seagulls would scoop in and steal the bread.  When Charles was ready we would get back on the bike and sing all the way home.   Sometimes we would stop at the Jr. Food Store and get an Icee.     

 

To our suprise one Sunday when I opened the Newspaper there was a picture of Aunt Kathy's bike leaning on a park bench and telling about a family that had biked to the park to feed the ducks.  Well the reporter  got the story wrong!   It was an Aunt(Kathy) and her nephew (Charles)  who biked to the park.  There on the handle bars of the bike was the bag Aunt Kathy always attached to the handle bars with our snack inside.     

Charles left so many memories imprinted in my heart.  Today as I think of him on his Birthday I am reminded of this one. 

Charles was always a sharing and giving child.  One day Grandma Dunn asked me to run to the store and gave me a list of things to get.  I could never get out the house without Charles coming along.  His favorite words were, "Go Bye Bye Aunt Kathy?  Please.".  I could never deny those pleading eyes.  Off we went to Delchamps.  I put Charles in the buggy and got to the produce aisle and suddenly realized that I had forgotten Grandma's list.  I told Charles,"Oh no, Aunt Kathy forgot Grandmas list."  Charles looked over at a lady shopping with a list and said,"That's okay Aunt Kathy.  I bet that lady will share her list!".  Whenever I am in a grocery store and see someone with a list this comes to mind and I cannot help but give a giggle, my heart is warmed as I remember the sweet sharing heart our precious Charles had.   

For me Charles is synonymous with Trust and Itegrity.  I've known people who had childern and when thier child got into thier teens I would become wary of him/her.  The teen would do things that caused me to begin to lose trust in that person.  Not Charles!  As the father of two girls I was, and still today, rather protective of them.  I have this internal drive to know they are ok, being protected.  When the girls would roam the mountain in N.C. and Charles was with them I could relax.  I know he would not harm them and would not let harm come to them.  You see Charles lived a life of itegrity.  Integrity is a trust kinda thing.  You have to live itegrity to earn trust.  Charles had an air of itegrity about him and I trusted him with the two second most precious people in my life.  That is something that is not given it has to be earned! 

Trust, Itegrity, Charles had it.