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*Melinda made me a better person. Everything I do here is dedicated to my lovely wife, Melinda.

"A person I love dearly ended their own life - and mine has forever changed"  

This is a Christmas card I received from Melinda the year we got married;

Melinda and her mom, October 2005

I am humbled when I see my videos show up on other sites, especially a foreign website. "The Letter" made its way to this site. That video has now gotten thousands of hits on YouTube.

"Are you looking down upon me, are you proud of who I am?"

I know there is beauty in all this pain. There has to be.

Heaven Only Knows

Heaven Only Knows is the latest video tribute I put together.

One of my many tributes to Melinda is entitled "The Letter." I heard this new song by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss and it just 'blew me away.'

Comments like these are humbling;

The Letter

Billypinard:
"
One of the most heartfelt showings of love and
 sadness I have ever seen and heard.
I just became engaged and I will use this Vbeachy as a
reminder and a blueprint for what I can only hope, dream and work real hard at to share with my future wife. God Bless, Thank you."

AWESOME!!! Fellow Male MS "patient", recently discovered your web site and your life. THANK YOU, "inspiration", "role model", etc. etc. THANK YOU

This song touches me deeply. Your posting makes it even more special. You are blessed

I understand you lost your lady...
My condolances to you, I love the song and I appreciate your video, sung by two beautiful human beings...
Good luck with writing the most difficult letter to write...
Sincerely, Bonzo1971

Here I Am

Melancholy


It Hurts

Fare Thee Well

Faith Hill provides the wonderful music for this Melinda Tribute photo movie. it is still tough for me to put these together, but I find the subject (Melinda) easy because of how much I loved her and how utterly void my world seems without her in it.

 

Going through a box I hadn't touched in over a year, I came across this gem (written by Melinda while she was lying on a beach in Aruba). Click on the picture for a larger version)

Melinda raking leaves at our house on Wellsville Road

No amount of therapy in the world can prepare one for this;

The SOS Bill of Rights

Melinda's smile hypnotized me

Melinda Ann Beachy October 8th, 1961 - June 2nd, 2006

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I put together another photo movie dedicated to Melinda's memory. This one is called Melinda's Iris. Click on the picture to view it on my YouTube page.

This next one I called "Rockabye Melinda"

The following three photo stories are the same sequence of pictures, but set to different music. Different emotions.

 

I haven't done this in some time...make a PhotoStory. I am always inspired to put these together, and it helps me get through some tough times.

Frank Sinatra lends his voice to this piece I call "Autumn."

You can view my Photostory called "Autumn" here.

I got this poem from my support group. I wish...

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Always Remembered

I got an ornament with a poem from my sister-in-law, Donetta. It hits home.

James 1:12 (New International Version)

 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

Our house was, indeed, a Home.

I have the saying on this site: "Nobody gets MS until they get MS." Well, Melinda "got" MS. She knew what I needed before I knew that I needed it. Period.

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Melinda and I really liked the Tigerlily CD, and I especially liked this song. Click on the title to listen and know why I always thought of Melinda when it played.

NATALIE MERCHANT LYRICS

"Beloved Wife"

You were the love
For certain of my life
You were simply my beloved wife
I don't know for certain
How I'll live my life
Now alone without my beloved wife
My beloved wife
...

 

Here is the story behind the music of Sarah McLaughlin: Melinda and I went our separate ways in 1990, but reconnected in 1995 when I moved to Little Rock. She invited me to the Sarah concert at Mud Island in Memphis on a rather hot and muggy day in July.

That day at work saw me reporting from the scene of a homicide. I was sweating heavily in the 100+ degree heat and the subject was, of course, less-than-pleasant. In driving to Memphis a front came through and a nice wind blew and the temp was 75 for the outdoor concert. The day started out poorly, but ended on a very high note.

Great music, great weather and sitting next to my soul mate is a memory ingrained in my mind. That's the moment I knew we would be back together.

Maybe tomorrow I'll find my way home...

I put together several memorials to Melinda. I hope the Photo Stories will, at least, begin to convey how much in Love we were and always will be. In my mind, she is immortal. It runs just over 5 minutes.

"Scrawl dissolved, cigar box on the floor."

I put this memorial together on Monday night 6/5/06 when I couldn't sleep. I hope this, in some small way, begins to convey how much I love Melinda.

(The background music is one of the most sacred of hymns, performed by Ani Difranco)

I put this together in 2003 and I wanted to put it on this site.

 

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08/23/2008

 Email

 
Vern Beachy
I met the love of my life in Carroll, Iowa, and we got married while we lived in Memphis, Tennessee.
 
I lost the very best of me on June, 2nd, 2006.
 
I miss her more than I can say.
 

This pamphlet by the American Association of Suicidology is pretty powerful. It is in .PDF format.

 

Watching over me

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commercialappeal.com - Memphis, TN: Obituaries:

Melinda A. Beachy

Melinda A. Beachy, 44 of Memphis formerly of Lake City, Iowa died Friday, June 2, 2006 in Memphis.

 I have made Melinda's Memphis Commercial Appeal guestbook a permanent online fixture. Thank you for the comments and prayers, they give me comfort and I know they make Melinda flash that infectious smile.

Melinda's graduation from Drake University in Des Moines. 1983

Melinda with her sister Donetta in Lake City. I love this photo of Melinda.

With her nephew Zack 1996

Melinda Senior 1979

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Our house in Memphis with the Dogwoods blooming.

 

I attend a grief support group in Carroll (it helps, trust me) and I was given this poem. It's worth a read (click on the thumbnail for a larger version).

This is an excerpt from the 2006 holiday newsletter I put together for our families. Click on it and the full newsletter (in Word format) will open. Thanks.

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there, I do not sleep
I am a 1,000 winds that blow
I am the diamond glints on snow
I am the sun on ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn rain
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled light
I am the soft star that shines at night
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there; I did not die.
Anonymous 

I wrote and framed "The Impossible" for Melinda in 2001. These were my wedding vows to her. (Click for a larger version)

Two Lives, Two hearts, Joined together....in Friendship, United Forever in Love.

 

PSALM 77

 1 I cried out to God for help;
       I cried out to God to hear me.

 2 When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;
       at night I stretched out untiring hands
       and my soul refused to be comforted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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