Honoring Two Great People - Dee Puckett & Robbie Robison

I recently attended the funerals of two wonderful people that have had a profound effect on my life:  my aunt Dee Puckett and my long time friend, patient and mentor Robbie Robison.

Aunt Dee was one of a kind and leaves behind a legacy of kids and grandkids. She was my aunt but also my mom’s best friend. The stories of Aunt Dee are legendary. She was a whirlwind of energy and enthusiasm, and you never had to guess what was on her mind, because it was coming out of her mouth so quickly it left everyone either speechless or falling on the floor laughing. She was constantly yelling at us as kids telling us she was going to rip off our arms and beat us with the bloody end of it. You never doubted that you were loved in Dee’s presence. When Dee, my mom and Sharon (another friend) would get together, you never had a prayer of getting a word in edgewise, but you were sure to get an education and a side ache from laughing so hard.

Dee loved to travel and her and my mom visited many places together including China.  While in China, she suddenly decided to join a student march, yelling “Hell, no, we wont go!” even though she had no idea what the students were saying, nor why they were demonstrating. She was a talented cake decorator and actually made Holly and I’s wedding cake, a big movie buff (she owned Video Connection and probably watched most of the movies in the store), had the most hilarious expressions (“where yunz goin” or “look out the winder” or “Daddy got the gout”), and most of all loved her family deeply. I have fond memories of the whole Puckett Clan playing softball in her and Uncle Steve’s pasture where the bases were usually the dry cow pies, and you hoped to avoid the green cow pies when rounding or sliding in to bases. She was one of a kind, a beautiful lady, and I will miss her dearly.

I will always remember Robbie Robison as an excellent example of a good Christian, husband, man and human being. I have known Robbie and his late wife Ruth for the past 18+ years. They were an inseparable team and were a blessing and inspiration to everyone they met. When I first started my practice, they both became patients and their home phone number was very similar to my office number, so patients would occasionally misdial and reach Ruth and Robbie instead of my office. I probably should have paid Ruth for her marketing services over the years, because she would have prospective patients convinced that I was the best chiropractor in central Oregon before they even reached our office.

Robbie was full of stories about the Navy, growing up in east Texas, Ruth, their kids and their station in Guam. After Ruth passed away, I was worried Robbie would be lonely, so we would have him over for dinner or stop by his house with dinner. We had the privilege of taking him to Barney Prine’s on his 90th birthday – after dinner, they brought out a large dessert, and I remember his big, bushy eyebrows raising up and his mouth dropping wide open to proclaim, “Wow, all this for me?!!”  He was always so grateful, so gracious, so full of life and cheer, never complained about his health issues. I’m certain I got more from Robbie than he ever got from me. I will miss this very special man who I’m proud to call my friend. I will miss our talks, and I will miss having that person in my life that was always the sage, wise old teacher. Whenever life would throw out more than I thought I could handle, I could always stop by Robbie’s house and be greeted with a warm welcome — he would stop whatever he was doing and pray with me. I will miss that sweet, bearded cowboy and navy man. I will miss his hugs and his infectious smile that made you feel like nothing else in the world mattered more than you at that moment. I will miss my friend.