Ellen Kay Cahoon
December 18, 1962--May 13, 1981


From--"Life is Not Measured by its Length" ©1998 Roy G. Cahoon [excerpt from my book of the same title]

"...I remember almost nothing of the minister's words at the funeral but I keep remembering the scene in the ER of Pitt Memorial Hospital. Ellen was so very tired and unresponsive after the hour long ambulance ride. I tried to bolster her spirits and encourage her not to give up. After they finished their preliminary exam, they suggested that my wife and I take her bag up to her room while she went to x-ray.

As they rolled her gurney away, I called to her, "Hang on, Sweetie. We'll see you upstairs." We didn't see her alive again but by the grace of God we will some day see her "upstairs".

Time has eased our pain somewhat but we are still trying to find meaning or purpose in her death. The words of the 8th chapter of Romans comfort us when we read, "Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later. For all creation is waiting patiently and hopefully for that future day when God will resurrect his children." (From The Living Bible)

Lewis Nickerson said, "Life is not measured by its length, but by its depth." We find that a fitting epitaph for this gentle, soft spoken girl who was so precious to us and such a good example for her friends."

From "Frozen in Time", an excerpt from "Grandpa Was a Yankee" ©2000 Roy G. Cahoon

"We have a bedroom which has two names. To my wife it is the guest room; to me, it is Ellen's room. It will always be her room even though our house was not built until thirteen years after her death. Her personal belongings are still in the chest of drawers just as she left them and there are pictures of her all over the room. Simply put, it is Ellen's room.When I hear a reference to Princess Di's death it brings to mind that Ellen was born one year after Di and had she lived would probably be a wife and mother in her mid 30s. But she will always be eighteen to me because that was her age when she died. I still grieve for her and the children she never had. I not only feel cheated that she was lost to us but I feel cheated of the grandchildren who will never be ours.

The night Ellen was born at the old St. Luke's Hospital in New Bern is fresh in my memory. There were babies all over the place that night. They said seven babies were born in a two hour period that December night, just a week before Christmas. I watched through a window as a nurse roughly washed her and then dressed her. She finished up by brushing a curl in her thick, black hair and then wrapped her in a blanket before handing her out to me. Ellen had screamed at the rough treatment and the nurse commented that we'd have trouble with that bad temper of hers. Nothing could have been more wrong. She was easy going and even tempered all her life... all eighteen years and five months.

She came to us at Christmas and departed from us at Easter. A part of us died when Ellen died and she will always be frozen in time at age 18. No longer a child but not yet ready to spread her wings and leave the nest. We have grown old but she's still a fun-loving teenage in our memories..."
Some of the stories you will find in my second book!
Grandpa Was a Yankee... and other tales ©2000 Roy G. Cahoon 64 pages, $6.00 plus shipping and handling if applicable. Email me for details...

Grandpa Was a Yankee--the story of my great grandfather's interesting military career during the Civil War.

Bud Dolph's Death--an account of the ambush/murder of a paymaster in 1925, and the tragic death of my mother's brother as he sought to apprehend the murderer.

They're Everywhere--a story of my teenage encounter with a mobster who threatened to call a hitman from Boston when he became angry with me.

My Summer Jobs--the story of my unstable work history as I was growing up.

Room for Rent--a story of my family's experiences in renting my sister's bedroom after her marriage.

Pay Me or I'm Going Home, I Should Have Taken a Bus, A Word Please, Glimpses of Morocco, Picadilly Queen, My Clock is Burning, and My Savannah Social Life--all are accounts of my experiences in the Air Force between 1951 and 1955.

Ocean View and A Temporary Setback in my Career--relate experiences while I was employed at MCAS Cherry Point, Havelock, NC.

Buck--considers the death of a very dear friend and my fear that it may not have been a natural death.

STILL AVAILABLE
Life is Not Measured by it's Length... and other stories I like to tell ©1998 Roy G. Cahoon

81 pages, 32 short stories of my childhood, growing up in rural Pamlico County, North Carolina during the Depression $6.00 plus applicable shipping and handling charges--Email me for details or contact me through the US Mail: PO Box 14007, New Bern, NC 28561-4007
This page ©2007 Randy Cahoon all original photographs, artwork and design are copyright protected; unauthorized use is prohibited by law

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