Esther Christian-Taylor
I want first to apologize today to our dearest Margie & Stephen for not being able to stand up at Steve's service to pay my respects to her husband & his father; my grief &tears were too hard for me to cease ..., I would not have done any more than cry @the podium while trying to utter the words to share my memories of him. Please forgive me, but know I honor him often with my tears and thoughts and Prayers for the two of you as I often will for years to come. When I was just a young child, Steve good-naturedly listened to my even then grossly off-key screaching renditions of "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden" smiling along with my Mama. He founded the spring of my love for horses as his was the first horse I ever sat upon. One, if not the, earliest memory I have of Steve was of him reaching down to pick me up,placing me upon the bare back of his horse;he stood right beside me for safety as my Mama fretted like the Mama hen she was, reassuring her of my safety as I begged to never be taken off the horse & wrapped my fingers in the mane. I remember my legs splayed out to the side widely but my feet seemed to not even reach the sides of his horse I was that small, but there he stood right beside me, a giant towering tall to my left and grinning widely. Steve, Margie, & Stephen were always the family home I clamored to have my Mama take us to visit when we visited back at her hometown of Culpeper. His "Aunt Sadie Eunice" would chastise Steve as his one-liner jokes,stories & their reminiscing would make her laugh & smile in missing-tooth grins/smiles in her later years, but even as she chastised him & tried to hide her smile, her blue eyes would twinkle and shine with love and happiness as his twinkled in mischief and love as well. She loved her nephew Steve dearly. I watched those same blue eyes of Mama's twinkle brightly over the years even during their conversations over the phone as he called her to talk to her from two states away. More than once we would be pleasantly surprised over the years, waking up & sneaking out to investigate after finding people sleeping in their vehicle in our secluded driveway due to the early hour they arrived, &us being overjoyed upon recognizing that VA license as we approached the vehicle to investigate our unknown visitors... or calling to let us know they were in a hotel nearby to visit.They came up to Maryland in one of my darkest times when I was duty stationed at Fort Detrick, MD;I was lonely beyond measure for Mama, home, & family. Steve, Margie, & Stephen eased my pain just by being near me although they treated me to a visit to Smithsonian Institute & DC area which I thoroughly enjoyed. I travelled more than once from Georgia in a little red Nissan pickup truck, taking my Mama home to her beloved family still there & beloved Culpeper. While visiting once with Steve & his family, Mama was admiring his craftsmanship of his newly-built two fine large, sturdy, wooden picnic tables; Mama was so proud of his work and gushed over him & his projects. Without a moment's pause or notice of his intention, he loaded up one of the two tables, placing it upside down into the back of the pickup truck to send it home with his Aunt Sadie and L'il Esther. Her nor my arguments to no avail...... basically, his response was "There's only 3 of us here, I was trying to figure out what to do with the other one, now it's settled (wink)" ... Sent us travelling from Culpeper to Chickamauga, GA with the table legs sticking up from the bed of the pickup truck oddly for nine+ hours.... HIs jokes were funny, he made us smile, but his own distinct and hearty laughter and smile were more contagious. HIs strong Virginian voice echoes in my thoughts & memories. He gave us the best hugs: kind with strong yet gentle & loving embraces from a heart which was just the same. His Prayers & Amen were obviously heartfelt when heard. I loved him dearly; with Oceans of Love and Rivers of Tears from a broken heart...
