June 21, 2020
Today is Father’s Day, so I got up thinking about my dad, the man who has been there to support me every day since I was born. His loving concern and wise advice (and loans) have gotten me through a lot of challenges. Believe me, I know that I am very fortunate to still have my dad in my life, at my age. One of the hardest things about the quarantine and Corona virus situation has been not being able to get a hug from him. Dad grew up in Galveston, Texas in the 1940’s and 50’s. He remembers being in school when the big Texas City refinery explosion happened in 1947. The force was so great that it knocked him out of his desk from miles away. After that school was dismissed and all the children took off running for home on their own. (Lockdown had not yet been invented.) Dad’s family didn’t have much, but occasionally, his mom would give each of them a quarter and they would get to go to the movies. The bus ride was 5 cents each way, the movie was 9 cents and the popcorn cost a nickel. That left them with a penny to stop at the corner store after and buy a sucker. Dad would eat his right then, but his sister would save hers for a few days and then torment him by eating hers slowly while he watched. That may be when he learned how to set up a good trick and let me tell you, my dad is full of good tricks. One year on Christmas Eve when I was about 7, he got in the bushes outside our bedroom window and held up a flashlight to silhouette his deer head that he had removed from the wall, while he jingled bells and bellowed “Ho, Ho, Ho!”. I think my younger sister fell for it, but I recognized the deer and the voice. (and besides, why would Santa be in the bushes?) I did appreciate the effort though, even at my age. I don’t know how many times I have fallen for the “hey, what’s that on your shirt?” trick. I would look down to see what he was pointing at and dad would bring his big finger up and bonk my nose. (We all still try to play this trick on him, with very little success.) Any time we were sitting where he wanted to sit in the living room, instead of just asking us to move, he would say, “Hey, can you go do “such and such” for me?” and then he would steal our chair, as soon as we got up. And without fail, if we were working on a big family puzzle, we would get to the end and the last piece would come up missing. Dad would make his perfectly timed entrance (because he never actually worked on the puzzle) and would slip the last piece into place, while we all screamed, “DAD!” All his tricks made him laugh and we all laughed at ourselves (not a bad skill to have) for “falling for it again.” Dad’s enjoyment of a good prank did not diminish with age, in fact, he got better at it. A lot of his neighbors have a fig tree or two in their yards and every year they would all be covered with figs, except for one. Mr. Smith’s tree always failed to produce fruit, so Dad decided to play a little trick. He got a bunch of figs and tied them all over Mr. Smith’s tree. When Mr. Smith started complaining about how his tree never had figs, Dad said, “Are you sure Wayne? I think I saw figs on your tree on my way in.” Poor Mr. Smith missed the gleam in dad’s eye and practically ran outside, so excited to finally have some figs… until he tried to pick one. Dad still laughs about that story. (so does Mr. Smith) On my list of blessings, having a great dad who loved me, provided for me and encouraged me is right at the top. I love to see Dad’s smile and that mischievous twinkle in his eyes. In good times and bad, we have enjoyed each other’s company and found so much joy in life by laughing. 1 Corinthians 16:14 (ESV) says: “Let all that you do be done in love.” 1 Thessalonians 3:12 (TLB) says: “And may the Lord make your love to grow and overflow to each other and to everyone else, just as our love does toward you.” Laugh and have fun! Smile and be joyful!
Today is Father’s Day, so I got up thinking about my dad, the man who has been there to support me every day since I was born. His loving concern and wise advice (and loans) have gotten me through a lot of challenges. Believe me, I know that I am very fortunate to still have my dad in my life, at my age. One of the hardest things about the quarantine and Corona virus situation has been not being able to get a hug from him. Dad grew up in Galveston, Texas in the 1940’s and 50’s. He remembers being in school when the big Texas City refinery explosion happened in 1947. The force was so great that it knocked him out of his desk from miles away. After that school was dismissed and all the children took off running for home on their own. (Lockdown had not yet been invented.) Dad’s family didn’t have much, but occasionally, his mom would give each of them a quarter and they would get to go to the movies. The bus ride was 5 cents each way, the movie was 9 cents and the popcorn cost a nickel. That left them with a penny to stop at the corner store after and buy a sucker. Dad would eat his right then, but his sister would save hers for a few days and then torment him by eating hers slowly while he watched. That may be when he learned how to set up a good trick and let me tell you, my dad is full of good tricks. One year on Christmas Eve when I was about 7, he got in the bushes outside our bedroom window and held up a flashlight to silhouette his deer head that he had removed from the wall, while he jingled bells and bellowed “Ho, Ho, Ho!”. I think my younger sister fell for it, but I recognized the deer and the voice. (and besides, why would Santa be in the bushes?) I did appreciate the effort though, even at my age. I don’t know how many times I have fallen for the “hey, what’s that on your shirt?” trick. I would look down to see what he was pointing at and dad would bring his big finger up and bonk my nose. (We all still try to play this trick on him, with very little success.) Any time we were sitting where he wanted to sit in the living room, instead of just asking us to move, he would say, “Hey, can you go do “such and such” for me?” and then he would steal our chair, as soon as we got up. And without fail, if we were working on a big family puzzle, we would get to the end and the last piece would come up missing. Dad would make his perfectly timed entrance (because he never actually worked on the puzzle) and would slip the last piece into place, while we all screamed, “DAD!” All his tricks made him laugh and we all laughed at ourselves (not a bad skill to have) for “falling for it again.” Dad’s enjoyment of a good prank did not diminish with age, in fact, he got better at it. A lot of his neighbors have a fig tree or two in their yards and every year they would all be covered with figs, except for one. Mr. Smith’s tree always failed to produce fruit, so Dad decided to play a little trick. He got a bunch of figs and tied them all over Mr. Smith’s tree. When Mr. Smith started complaining about how his tree never had figs, Dad said, “Are you sure Wayne? I think I saw figs on your tree on my way in.” Poor Mr. Smith missed the gleam in dad’s eye and practically ran outside, so excited to finally have some figs… until he tried to pick one. Dad still laughs about that story. (so does Mr. Smith) On my list of blessings, having a great dad who loved me, provided for me and encouraged me is right at the top. I love to see Dad’s smile and that mischievous twinkle in his eyes. In good times and bad, we have enjoyed each other’s company and found so much joy in life by laughing. 1 Corinthians 16:14 (ESV) says: “Let all that you do be done in love.” 1 Thessalonians 3:12 (TLB) says: “And may the Lord make your love to grow and overflow to each other and to everyone else, just as our love does toward you.” Laugh and have fun! Smile and be joyful!
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