Bob Finley – You will be missed! I know Bob adored me and although it bothered my husband a bit, I found it a bit flattering. We were very good friends. My brother Lee his current best friend. I like everyone else was and is still in some way shocked by Bob’s death. I remember hearing from Bob again back in 2017 and we started chatting thru Facebook messenger. We caught up on good and sad times and he eventually made it back here to Florida where he always wanted to be. He was here 3 years to the day when he took his own life. Now that in itself it shocking as he was so excited about his new home and all of us going out on the Pontoon boat. They say that 80 to 90% of us think of committing suicide. I know I did, and I came close to going thru with it. After hearing of Bob’s death, like all of you I began to go through the stages of first the Initial Shock! Then a bit of Anger… Who did this to him? And of course a lot of Guilt… the should of’s / would of’s – what we call Shoulding all over ourselves… the best thing is to learn from it and grow to help others. Bob we know seemed to have overwhelming internal struggles. From his drinking to his memories of war, to his family loss of Sister and Mom, and so much more we are unsure about. And since Bob did not share those inner struggles, we can’t answer the “why”. Bob was not turning away from us or God, but saw no alternative. Just imagine the intense pain, anguish and hopelessness he must of felt. He feels it no more. God loves us unconditionally. God’s grace and mercy are freely given. We don’t earn His love, we receive it. Bob has received the mercy and forgiveness of God. All of us now have been wounded by the way he took his life. But just as when his best friend our little brother Rex died from being hit by a car, I began to realize I needed to live life a little bit more fuller, to live for them also. Those of you know me as being in recovery from alcoholism and this hurts. More so, I am a Christian with God and Jesus being the most important contacts in my life. I’ve been doing a lot of praying and asked God if Bob made it to heaven. I want us all to make it to heaven. My belief is that we must repent and be baptized for that to happen. I could be wrong but that’s what I’ve been taught. I would not suggest “hoping” you get there. But as for my conversation with God about Bob and my extreme sadness that he might not be there, God with all his compassion told me that the Bob I knew will be in heaven. How that works I don’t know. I don’t have to know, I just have faith that when I hear from God, I can believe it! See You when I get there my dear friend……. We love you!

We were all getting ready for Satellite High School "Nifty Fifties" play. There was L to R; Ralph Lee Oldham, Vicky Wasiwitz, Claudia (Oldham) Aderhold, and Robert (Bob) Finley.