A Father's Message

To Mark, Megan and John, 
I am thinking about what it means to be a father and hoping that my failures will never plot the course of your journey.  I am your father but I am also a child who had a father.  I was thinking about the lessons I learned from my father and how they have impacted my life.  I learned to never give up and that anything can be fixed.  He taught me to live life looking forward to the future.  He always had plans--he built his last house at seventy. He was generous and quick to forgive.  Oh, I remember some of his weaknesses, but his strengths still encourages me today.  We are all flawed but life is not about our flaws, it is about our hearts, our willingness to keep going when others drop out, about knowing when to rest or as my dad said, “put your oars in the boat and drift awhile.”  In so many ways he lives on in me and you.  He was a man worth following.  He never asked anyone to follow him but he could have said with Paul, “Follow me as I follow Christ.”  I am very proud of all three of you.  You have honored me in so many ways and for that I am thankful.  I pray that when I go home you will know that every day of your life your dad is looking for you and that the good memories blur the bad ones.  I love you.  dad