Remembering my father

Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. – Proverbs 22:6

Recently, I reviewed some old messages looking for a specific picture and instead stumbled across a text message I sent myself from about thirteen-months ago. If you’ve read my prior blogs or know anything about me, you’ll quickly recognize what was going on in my life May of last year. My father. Cancer. Wide-spread. Time slipping away.

The text I found was from a visit with Daddy while he was in the hospital immediately following his terminal cancer diagnosis. We were alone and he wanted to talk to me about his funeral. Of all the things I’d prepared for in life, this was a conversation I never imagined having with my Daddy.

He started by telling me who he wanted for his pallbearers and then proceeded to ask each one himself to be such. He said he wanted someone to sing In His Arms. Daddy even told me who to call and ask to sing it at the funeral. Of course he wanted Preacher Lattimore to minister his service. I also jotted down a Bible verse from Proverbs for his service. Daddy didn’t specify this verse, yet I was led to it one day during that horrible May and found it fitting.

Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.
Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)

As I remember Daddy this Father’s Day and look back at this first year without him, I know that he abided by this verse with respect to me and my brother.

It’s been a difficult year and I know will always miss him dearly. Just like anything in life, this event also led to other firsts. For example, I vividly remember when I was first asked the question, “Are both of your parents still living.” It was an incredible emotional moment at an otherwise benign luncheon in Washington, D.C. The luncheon should be remembered for the event itself and what was being celebrated there. Instead it now has a different connotation associated with it.

Thirteen-months later and I’m still mourning. What may have previously been an insignificant memory of an ordinary time with daddy can easily start the tears streaming.

But the memories are full of joy and laughter too. They’re full of celebrations and good times. They’re full of extraordinary moments hidden in an ordinary day. They’re full of bits of advice from daddy to me and proud moments from me to daddy. The memories are a lifetime full of how to live according Proverbs 22:6.