|
Today we honor dads. We share with you this letter from a former Calhoun lady,
Linda Reed
Dear Bob,
Happy Fathers Day to you and all the Fathers. Coming back home to the Wood
Festival brought
back a lot of memories.
As Stan and I walked along Mill Street and River Street, I would point out the houses
where we once
lived and tell him about Brent and Rhonda's age and what they were doing at that
time in their life.
It seemed like each story that I would tell him, my Father, Oral Craddock, had
something to do with it.
He was a wonderful man...my first real memories begin, when at 18 months old my
Dad was called
to serve in the military. He became a sailor at 36, being the oldest man on ship
during World War II.
My Mom would comb my hair and we would look at Daddy's picture and she would
say, we are
going to send Daddy these rats (tangles) and he can throw them in the ocean...when
he finally
returned home they took me to the bus station, and asked me, who is that man and
I said proudly,
my Daddy. From that day on, I was always proud to say...this is my Father...I was
lucky, my Father
lived to be 83, but oh how I would love to be able to give him a big hug and kiss and
tell him I love
him...
On Friday night, looking at Brent and Rhonda, enjoying the festival, and enjoying
their friends,
they see maybe once a year, I know they couldn't help but think of their father,
Larry...Seeing
Larry Morton ( their Dads fishing buddy) Duck Stevens, Jim Yoak, and others who
were in the Fire
Department with him, and Butch Ford whom he worked with at the Calhoun Super
Service for so
many years...but my children weren't as lucky as I, their Father didn't live to be 83 ,
he died at 56
years of age.
Brent will be preaching his sermon on Fathers. I know it will be happy times he will
talk about, but also
the pain of losing his father, knowing that his Dad would never see, the children
that he and
Donna would have in the future, but at the same time having the peaceful feeling,
that someday they
will be reunited, and his Dad will get to see Larry and Johnny.
Please give your fathers an extra hug and kiss today, and tell him you love him...if
you need to
say I'm sorry for something, then say it...I have been blessed, with another father
figure in my life,
he is 83...no he won't take my Dads place, but he is a kind gentle loving man, whom
we talk to
every Sunday by phone...he lives at Calabash, NC and at the end of our
conversation, he says,
"We love you Linda" and I return "I love you too," I know in my heart that
somewhere Dad is
looking down with a smile when he hears that...Dad showed me, how to love
through those
wonderful big hugs and kisses that he gave us until the day he died...so, however
you do it, in
person or by phone, enjoy your fathers...let him know how much you care...
HAPPY FATHERS DAY
Linda Reed
|
