"I'd do it all again"

"I figured out a way I'm like you," my son, Tray, told me.

"I'm a "rememberer."

Yep - that's right.  Tray remembers everything, just like his mama.

That's not a surprise to you, is it?  I not only remember, but I am also always happy to share every detail of the memory.

That has been evident this week as I have shared memories of my daddy who died on this date in 2009.

Another thing about me (that you already know) is that one of the ways I deal with emotion is through taking my thoughts and putting them into words and then on a computer screen, .etc. etc. etc.

And so it is that this week I have been remembering and talking about those memories.

Reviewing scrapbooks and photo album has been a great experience for me.

In 1999 my parents asked for my help in putting their story together so that their children and those who come behind us have the knowledge of who they were. The title of the project is "From the Roots, the Tree Blossoms."   By this time there are more than fifty of us (children, marriages, grandchildren and their mates and great grandchildren plus the ones who came to us by way of second marriages).  The book included stories and events including a statement daddy made at their 50th wedding anniversary.

"I would like for these words to be on my marker when I die," he said.

"I'd do it all again."

Daddy died just a month after their 67th wedding anniversary.

That afternoon as he lay dying, the Rev. Kevin Pound, my parents' minister, stood by daddy's bedside and personalized the 23rd Psalm as he prayed.  He said things like "We know you are Earl's shepherd, that you have prepared a table for Earl and that Earl with dwell with you in the house of the Lord forever."

That touched our mother. She forgot what daddy wanted to have on his marker.  She had these words engraved..."Dwelling in the House of the Lord forever".

Please don't misunderstand me.  It was mother's privilege to make that choice.

However, I believe his words are a  precious complement (to our mother - to us - and our children), but more than that I think what a blessing he was to us.  He always had a peppermint in his pocket, a song when we were down, and a dollar when we needed it.  He loved to be our "sugar daddy."

I think my brother, Lester's words sum it all up best:

"I always knew he loved reminding me that he had done something for me. He really was the biblical example of what God the Father is to us."

As one of the branches - I can say without reservation --

I'm glad he did it the FIRST time.

May your life be filled with enough sunshine

to make you appreciate the shadows