Uncle Morton

Tonight, as I was looking through old files on my computer to try to recover some lost documents, I found a tribute to my Uncle Morton that I wrote a few days after he died.  He was truly a wonderful man, full of life and love.  Here is the tribute along with some photographs:

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On Sunday, March 15, 2009 2:37 PM:

In Memory of Morton Brown My great-uncle passed away a two weeks ago at the age of 86.  He lived a life that was full of love, goodness, and blessings from the Lord.  At the age of 15, he dropped out of high school to work and help support his family during the depression.  One day while driving a dump truck to haul dirt, he happened upon a beautiful piece of property near a creek.  Eventually, after several years went by, he purchased this 90-acre property in southeast Roanoke and there he built a house, a water mill, and a covered bridge over the creek.  He married his first true love, Vivian, and they and their four children called this place their home.  He spent his days working as a paint contractor, playing golf, encouraging people, telling stories, and writing memoirs.  He loved God.  His wife died 12 years ago from cancer and he never got over her.  He continued to serve the Lord and encourage people, tell stories and write memoirs but his life was never the same without Vivian.  Several years ago, he sold his property to a developer and they tore down his home.    Last weekend, mom, dad, Jenny, and Hailey and I decided to go back and visit the property.  This was the place where my sister and I spent Sunday afternoons after church when we were growing up.  I knew my great-uncle better than I knew my grandfather.  I was deeply touched by and in awe of the beauty of his home and land even at a young age.  My dad and his brothers used to hike, chase turkeys, go fishing and swim in the lake when they were little boys.  My dad planted some of the Loblolly Pines on the mountain side some fifty years ago - they are now approaching almost 80 feet tall.  And yes, we were trespassing! We even managed to collect a few “souvenirs.”  This, of course, was my mom’s idea.  She has a thing for family plants, as some of you know.  So, now she has a family holly bush to add to her collection:)  It was an absolutely lovely day, filled with beauty, wilderness, and a hint of pain for the things that are now lost.   At the end of the afternoon, we stuffed the holly bush in the trunk, and piled back into the car to go home.  Little Hailey is now 2 years old and she loves to sing songs like “Deep and Wide” and “If You’re Happy and You Know It.”  So she started to sing.  And out of her mouth came the words from an old hymn, a hymn that we often sing to her before she takes a nap, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,…Master, Savior, Jesus…kings and kingdoms …” and then mom joined in “kings and kingdoms, will all pass away, but there’s something about that Name.”    Here are some photographs of our trip.  Except for the last two - they are older photographs from 10 years ago.  In them is a picture of a man that no longer lives on this earth and a house that no longer stands.  I’m sad about the loss, the loss of this beautiful property that is no longer in our family, the loss of a wonderful man that I wish I had spent more time with, the loss of youthful days spent with family that will never be recreated.  But then I think about Hailey’s song and I smile.  It really is true – these things will all pass away but One thing will never pass away and there is One that will never leave.  Love, Truth, Goodness, Beauty, Purity, Grace and everything else that Jesus is and everything else that His name means will not ever pass away.  These things are worth far above gold, jewels, and possessions.   And so I write this in memory of my great-uncle,                                                                                                                    Henry Morton Brown.