From feed sacks to suits. Not in the clothes aspect of it so much. So to begin to tell you about my dad I won’t start at the beginning of his life but at the point where he was born again. Let me tell you of some moments my dad enjoyed because of that decision:
13,505 days to be a husband, father, friend and neighbor
Lived to celebrate 49 years of marriage and love his best friend. To be loved by his best friend
Watch all of his children hit 40 years of age
Got to meet and hold his latest great grandson and namesake
Seen his grandson graduate high school
Watch his daughter finish nursing school and witness her success.
Attend his sons college graduation
Got to ride on an airplane, something he said he’d never do.
Watch and admire his baby boy become a man others would envy
Beat a lung cancer diagnosis
Out live 8 of his siblings
Seen the turn of a century
Seen the ocean and put his feet in the water
Made friends with an impersonator of one his lifelong idols (Elvis)
Because of all of these along with more to mention. My dad gave me and my family one of the greatest family experiences of a lifetime
If anyone ever met, talked, or had any kind of an experience or interactions with my dad for the last 35 years. Little some may have known witnessed a miracle.
My dad made a decision in 1984 to give his life to Jesus. Make Him Lord and Savior of his life. He told me the story of when and how it happened. How that he asked God that if He would give him his family back he would quit drinking. Yeah my dad was quite the drinker. Kind of ironic with his job of parking cars. If you had your car parked in Cincinnati between the years of 64’-86. It may have been dad and a good possibility not a sober one. I remember the story of him riding a bicycle. My sisters ten speed to be exact. But he rode it across the Big Mac bridge more than likely around 11-12 at night. He would say I was drunk as a skunk. Anyway he ended up wrecking the bike somewhere between Cincinnati and Newport. He Warped the tire so bad he had to carry it and couldn’t remember the next morning what and how it happened. Yeah this was the kind of lifestyle we had come accustomed to. So This wasn’t the first time my dad has promised to quit. There were many empty promises made before. So many my mom probably lost count. My dad knew this time something was different and he knew deep down something drastic had to change. I’m sure in that moment he remembered a story that he has heard so many times. About the love and forgiving grace of our Heavenly Father. He then made the decision to put his trust in something other than the thing keeping him from his family. That’s the difference. My dad found Jesus when he laid his burdens at the cross. When my dad went into the woods and sat on a rock, that summer day in 1984 he came out a different man. You don’t have to be an educated man. My dad had a 10th grade education. And made the right decision when it came to the biggest choice in life. Because of that decision God held true to His promise to be faithful and just. For the extra 35 years and Gods transformation that my dad and my God gave me. He became the dad who’s ready to jump when his kid called. Like at Ray’s wedding my sister called our dad and proceeded to tell him about a big boy statue. All dad heard was there was a big boy after your sister and we need to go. Well it was a whole 200 feet away and when we arrived. Me and dad find an actual frisches big boy statue. We laughed of course but that was the dad that came out of the woods those many years ago. And our whole family is so thankful for that unselfish decision the man we called dad and husband. Jesus suffered the things of this world to be a personal savior to all. He even experienced the loss of His Father while on the cross. We love you and will always honor your memory and look at your life to be an example of how to live.
