Rod came into my life shortly after I was stationed at Fort Gordon Georgia in 1986.  His daughter Becky and my oldest daughter Kalyka became best friends.  They were both 7 years old at the time.  They became inseperable.  My husband was still alive, so our contact was mainly through the girls, or at the Waffle House where I would go to take a break and get a cup of coffee.  Rod was always there.  We were coffee fanatics.  In 1990 my husband passed away, and without words being said, Rod became  a second father to my children.  He was a constand through their lives.  He was a father figure to several other friends of Becky andt Kalyka.  He had a handful through the teenage years.  Kalyka had a hard time dealing with her fathers death and when I got stationed in Hawaii, I sent Kalyka to Rod to deal witth major issues in her life.  Olivia was only 5 when her father  passed and Rod was in fact the only father she knew.  I don't think he really realized the impact he had on our lives.  Later when I was stationed on the east coast, I would be down in Georgia several times a month.  We would always connect at the Waffle house.  He was family and I'm going to miss him.

Niki Cotton
Alexandria, VA