A dad for Tray

Tray is my third child and only son.  He has always been my buddy - even when we are disagreeing about something.  He is now 35 years old and he can still melt my heart.

He was in the 6th grade - and I thought he needed a dad.

Of course, he had a father.  But his father from whom I was divorced and had been since he was six, lived many miles away from us.

And he had a grandfather - actually, he had two grandfathers and a great-grandfather.

And he had three uncles - and I had a couple of close male friends who came round every now and then.

But I thought he needed a dad - someone who would help him grow up, someone who would discipline him with a stern hand.. And how was he ever going to learn to be a father if he didn't have a role model - up close and personal.

At least, that's what I thought.  I don't know what he thought - or if he "thought".

At any rate, I began to pray earnestly that some nice, handsome, caring, athletic man would come into our lives.

It was all about my son.

And then I met Kathy McCalpin.  She was the divorced mom of a darling little girl named Amanda - but really missed not having a little boy - and we became friends.  And Kathy "fell in love" with my 6th grader.  She thought he was the cutest thing, laughed at his jokes, listened to him, watched him play baseball. and really treated him with much special love and care.

My role changed.  I learned that I could be a bit more strict (not a lot, I know).  I could discipline.  I could have a firm hand.

And I realized it was really all about me.

I had not been looking for a dad for Tray, but looking for a man for myself.

Tray would be a freshman in college before a man came into my life.

Today - he is the father of two little girls.  He appears to be a wonderful dad - something that I credit to the genes he inherited from his dad and his papaw, Raymond Parker, Sr., my dad, my brothers, my male friends, and the mother of his children.

Oh yes - and Kathy McCalpin who became the fluff in Tray's life - so I could be the "bad guy"

It's funny how God answers our prayers!