My Dad Part 5 "The Overcomer"

As I said in a former blog, my dad was far from perfect. So tonight I want to write about my dad the "overcomer." My dad grew up in a rural part of our town in a poor family. His mother actually birthed 13 children though two of them died at birth.

Dad used to tell of Christmas time. At his house to get a cap pistol and some fruit was a huge Christmas. Of course they really didn't know they were poor because all of the kids at his school and those in the area around their house were all in the same boat. I tell you this because it is one aspect of his overcoming. He became very successful as a builder through that kind of raising.

Dad also overcame some things that I know he would not be proud of having done, yet through God's help, he overcame them. Through my teen years dad went through hard times. I think I alluded to the fact that work was hard to come by as a builder. During this time in his life, he became a heavy drinker. I remember some pretty hard nights with him and mom doing lots of screaming. I could tell you some really tough details, but I'll spare you and me of those. Suffice it to say that mom searched the scriptures to try and find a way to "scripturally" divorce him. I guess that is the one thing I owe to conservative thinking. She could not find a reason and they stayed together and weathered the storm. Dad later gave up drinking on his own and later than that gave his life back to God. He served some years as a deacon in the church.

The truth is, I can safely say that through all of that I never doubted his love for us. That's the great thing about family. Forgiveness and healing should be automatic. Because of that I can say that I am very proud of my father. He overcame so many things to be a great giver of love to everyone with whom he came in contact.

My Dad Part 4 "The Builder"

Probably one of the most beautiful things about dad was his ability to build. If you could imagine it, my dad could build it. He was a builder all of his life. He started with his dad in the shop in his teen years. He taught me a lot about the trade, but my brother took it on as a trade. He works in Georgia and runs a shop building fire place mantels and book shelves.

The pictures you see in this blog are all from the hands of my father. What a gift from God! The house pictured is where he lived before he died and he built it. The cabinets you see are in that house.

Dad was a slow worker, but when he finished it was a true work of art. Sometimes people would complain to me about him taking so long. I would tell them. "Yes, he is slow, but when you get your cabinets you will know why." Nearly without fail, they would always come back to me and tell me that I was right. He was truly a master craftsman.

My Dad Part 3 "Leader of the Band"

As I continue to write about dad, I have to say something about music. Tonight the band I play in (Showdown) had practice. We are getting ready for our patriotic show the first Saturday of July. It was one of dad's favorites. He especially loved Merle Haggard's "Fightin' Side of Me" and a song called "Letters From Home." We practiced both of those songs tonight and a flood of memories came to me.

I remember as a boy growing up at home listening to dad learn songs for his band. They were called, "Richard Davis and the Country Classics." They played in our local area at places that would be considered as "family friendly" venues. They even won some area competitions and produced a record in one of the local studios.

Dad was the leader of the band, played rhythm guitar, and was the lead singer. He could really sing well. Who would have ever thought that I would be playing in a band and doing some of the same stuff he did back then.

I love the song "Leader of the Band" by Dan Fogelberg. The chorus of the song says, "The leader of the band is tired and his eyes are growing old, but his blood runs through my instrument and his song is in my soul. My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man. I'm just a living legacy to the leader of the band." I kind of feel that way about myself. I don't think I could ever be the man he was in so many ways. I can only make a poor attempt.

Don't misunderstand, my dad was not perfect by any stretch. He was a real person with real hang-ups and downfalls like the rest of us. I am just proud to have been a part of his life and am certainly proud to be a lover of music like he was.

Thanks dad for giving me the gift of music and for all the times you encouraged me to use the talents God has given me.

My Dad Part 2 "Unselfish Generosity"

One of the greatest aspects of my dad was his generosity. I have known no other person in the world so generous. Even in small things my dad was extremely unselfish.

Whenever we would be eating supper and the last roll (or last anything for that matter) was left in the plate, he would never eat it and sometimes would drive you crazy trying to give it to you. When Tabitha started driving, he would give her gas money sort of under the table. I don't know if he ever knew that I knew he was doing that.

When I was a teenager, I wanted a set of drums. Dad was a cabinet maker and during my teen years money was very hard to come by for anyone who built things for a living. Dad made a deal with a man to build a set of cabinets and trade them for a set of drums. They were vintage Rogers drums and at the time were collectors items (though I didn't know that). I wished I still had them. Dad did the same thing for my first car. He was amazing!

I always wondered how my parents struggled yet had plenty for my brother and me. That had to be a gift from God. I believe that people who are unselfish always have a bucket full of blessings for others. That was my father. He was a bucket full of blessings to everyone he came in contact with. I believe that the scriptures still say, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Dad was proof of that.

My Dad Part 1

This is the beginning of the week before Father's Day. This is the first year time in my life that I have to think about Father's Day without my dad in this world. It is still so hard to believe that he is gone. I dreamed about him last night. It seems that he has been heavy on my mind lately.

I don't want to spend this week in deep sadness. Although I don't believe that it would be wrong to be sad, and I know that I will be sad some this week, I want to remember some of the good times we had with him in this world.

My dad was an unassuming man. He was a quiet man who didn't say a lot, but everything he ever said meant something. When he would tell a story, we would many times wonder if he would ever get to the point, but that was just dad. There were many times mom would say, "Richard, I wish you would hurry up." Sometimes he would just give up and tell the rest of the story later.

Dad loved sports. He was a big Auburn fan, but I forgave him for that. As much as we seemed to pick at each other about that, it seems like such a small thing now. As a matter of fact, many things seem so much smaller now.

Some of my greatest memories of dad were at the baseball field. He coached us throughout our youth and was a very good strategist. He was tough, but always fair with all of the players. He was a great example to us all.

I hope to spend a couple of blogs this week in memory of my father. I sure do miss him.

For those of you whose fathers are still alive, please be sure to speak to them often and tell them how much they mean to you. My dad knew that I loved him, but I sure miss being able to tell him.