Cousin Val

Kent and Betty's oldest, Val, passed away suddenly on Wednesday night at 56 years old.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mandy, Lucy, Eleanor and Nicholas, as well as Betty, Randolph, Amery, Tish and Wright. The obituary at Milward's describes him well.

Here's Val at the Anniversary Party this summer.

His brother-in-law Rich has started an album of shots as well.  He's happy to share electronic or print copies with family who are interested.  I've included the taller picture of Val because I was struck by his hands.  I always think of Val as working and you can see it in the cuts on his fingers.

Mary Anne and I were watching old home movies of the Kent Hollingsworths growing up around Eclipse Place during one of our recent Lexington visits at Tish's house.  Like most home movies, a familiar annual pattern developed with football games, Christmas, swim meets, etc.  The striking thing was that Val was always working.  He was frequently in the background of the shot, sometimes taking a break (especially to play something with little brother Wright) but always happily doing his chores.

I spent one of my Christmas breaks in high school working for Val.  I remember starting early, ignoring the cold and getting a lot done during the days.  I never remember anything but joie de vivre from Val, whether showing me how to avoid a manure caked cow's tail while milking, or loading up hay to take out for feeding.

Mary Anne keeps remembering him dancing at Elizabeth's wedding this summer.  He pulled Mandy out on the floor during some song that most of us would have figured was only for Elizabeth's generation.  He had a golden sunshine of a smile.

We think of Val's namesake, Valentine Hollingsworth, as the first of our family to come to the new World in 1682.  People with good names and strong values have been leading the Hollingsworths for a long time.
 
We don't grieve for Val, we grieve for ourselves.  We will miss him every day, and especially when the whole family gets together.