John (Ikie) Richard Martin

Me and poppy when he still lived in Florida would walk though a back alley go to Publix and get ice cream I still remember is smile and laugh as we sat on a park bench and would just talk for hours giggling and smiling up to our eyes we would then bake cookies and sit on the couch with the dog he succeeded to make me happy.

One of my favorite memories with grandpa John is when I went to visit him and grandma Bev in Missouri. He took me fishing and it remains one of my favorite memories of him. He also took me on tractor rides and was always so happy with me and so proud of what I did. He was one of my biggest advocates in the twenty years I´ve been here. And I miss and love him so much. But he is in a better place. Where he can no longer hurt. He can only feel happy as he is with the people who went before him.

We met at Fatima high school. One day before school was the start, as a new teacher I was frantic to get to my classroom and yet had to be in a teachers meeting. People were going on and on about the horror of children, chewing gum in class! I was ready to scream because I needed to be in my classroom! Then this voice behind me, a voice of wisdom, spoke up and said "I think we have more important things to talk about than gum chewing. "I turned around to see this Person and look straight into the eyes of John. I was so grateful for a voice of wisdom!