I had a blasted headache all day today! It could be the wind or allergies and possibly the beautiful live Easter lily my friend Alyn brought me! Then again it could be this sad day. Twenty five years ago today I lost my dad. I remember it well sitting in my office at the UCHSC department of Microbiology/Immunology. I was pregnant with my second child and first son. My sister Mary called me. She was so quiet that I knew what had happened. We had lost our precious father. I was stunned. My dad had been ill but you never want to expect to get this call. I was crushed and yet I still had to tell my daughter who was in the third grade! She would be devastated as they adored each other!
That is a tough loss to handle and today all these years later I will still miss him as if he left a moment ago. He had such an impact on my life that I will never forget my incredible dad.
He was a quiet man, a steel worker. My father was a head roller at the CF and I steel corporation for forty seven years. He adored my mother and he doted on her. He loved his family, all five of us. All the grand children and great grand children. Had he lived he would have been blessed with so many new great grand children it would make him smile. He loved the little ones.
My dad had a sixth grade education yet he was one of the smartest men I have ever known. He read everything and could easily carry on a conversation. He had the most beautiful hand writing . He had a strong beautiful voice and my oldest daughter still has a cassette tape that my nephew Brian converted into a CD. On that tape that girl recorded my father and mother and various other family members with her Fisher Price tape recorder! I am here to tell you I do not believe the CIA has used such a high quality mechanical device! I can listen to that tape and hear my dad's voice as if he were here now.
But he is not, he is sharing in his eternal glory with my Savior Christ and His holy father in heaven tonight. My dad loved baseball. We all were born with a love for the New York Yankees stamped on our foreheads! I love them still today! My dad played semi pro baseball long before I was born and there is nothing he did not know of the sport. He was a catcher and he once caught behind the plate of the great Babe Ruth! My nephew in Pennsylvania was given the honor of holding on to that baseball! My dad loved his Bronco football. He loved Notre Dame college football. We once saw a game together with Joe Montana heading up Notre Dame's Fighting Irish! My dad was buried with his favorite Notre Dame necktie!
My dad had a nick name. It was "Spike" and that was because of the job he had. But he preferred people to use his given name of Edward and he was a kind, caring and loving man. He had the bible sitting on his nightstand and years later all the things he said to me, I realized he knew them because he knew God's word so beautifully. One of his favorite things to say was, "If we go here or there, God willing, hopefully we can get there safely, ma". Check that reference in your bible under the book of James 4:15. He loved my mother with a passion. He said many times she made him angry during their marriage but he would never harm her. He always said a real man would never hurt a woman.
When my father became ill a few years before his untimely death I always left me with a kiss on the forehead and we would say to each other, "I love you, see you next time." I know one day I will see my dad again.
Those of you that are fortunate to have parents still living, treasure them. Bless them and care for them. They are irreplaceable.
I will stop here and say, "I miss you tonight dad. I love you and I will see you again."
