Lavern F. Mullen "Moon" - 73 years old

by Penny
(Wisconsin)

My dad, Mr. Mullen, died very peacefully in my arms on 11/09/2007 at 5:37 p.m. He was a retired mail carrier, had been in the Army during the Korean war, fixed cuckoo clocks for people, was always willing to help anyone with anything it seemed. He taught me so many valuable lessons over the years: Honesty is always best, hard work does pay off, forgiveness is not easy but is what is best at times, you can't change people but you can change how you treat people. He was my best friend. He had such a dry sense of humor that only a few people, myself included, would understand. He usually had a smile on his face, sometimes a smirk. I feel so blessed to have had such a wonderful dad for so many years. He passed away due to lung cancer. He died very peacefully and was able to stay at home, those were his wishes. The morning that he passed away I had to go to nursing school. When I left that morning he asked when I would be back, I told him 4 pm. He put his hand on my shoulder, looked me in the eye, and said "I'll wait for you" which is exactly what he did.