Friday, July 4, 2008

July Fourth

Six years ago today my Dad passed away. When I look at his picture, I can hardly believe he is not here anymore. I can see him so clearly in my eyes and in my heart. If there ever was a sweet Daddy, it was him!

He was the last of 10 children and my grandmother was 41 years old when she had him. I can't imagine that now, can you? Although I guess it's a fashionable thing to do in Hollywood these days. So my aunts took care of him alot when he was young and they were like grandmothers to me.

My Dad served his country proudly in the Army and was caught by the Germans in WWII, put in a German prison camp for two years before he escaped. When I was little I loved to feel the shrapnel from a bullet where he was shot in the leg.

He came home from the war and married my mother in 1945. He went to work at the post office and carried the mail house to house for over 30 years before he retired.

So when our Daddy died on the Fourth of July we thought it very fitting for an old soldier who loved his country and fought for it's freedom!



My Daddy loved his grandkids. He had only two, Kelly and Chris, but thought they hung the moon and always loved to spend time with them. I think today how THRILLED he would be if he knew Kelly was going to make him a great-grandfather! And that Chris is marrying Carrie! Daddy always had the sweetest smile. When I was looking for pictures of him to post, there were none that he didn't have the biggest smile on his face!
Whenever the Fourth of July comes, I think of our freedom and how blessed we are as a nation. But I also remember my Daddy and how God blessed me with such a wonderful childhood with parents who loved the Lord and loved their daughter and her family very much! What more could you ask for?

Ephesians 6:2


12 comments:

Kelly said...

This made me cry.
I miss him and Mam-ma so much!

Jacquie said...

What a sweet tribute to your Daddy, Judy. He was such a sweet man.

Heather said...

What a sweet post..and beautiful pictures too!! My sister and I were the only granchildren my dad's parents had and we shared a very special relationship them too. Thanks for sharing this.

Mommy to those Special Ks said...

What a wonderful man, he will live on forever in your words. :)

Leigh Ann said...

I love how you talk about your daddy. I can tell you love him SO much! He DOES have the most precious big smile! I cannot imagine what that prison camp had to be like for him and what he did to escape. I'd like to hear more about that sometime. I'm so thankful to him and all of the others like him for their sacrifice. I really do think we could and should learn a lot from that generation. Love to you, Judy, this 4th of July!

The Garners said...

This is a wonderful post.

LOVE YOU A GOOGLE... said...

That was such a great post! Made me cry early this Saturday morning! Sounds like your daddy was an amazing man! Love his big smile, that made me happy. Thanks for sharing.

Becky said...

What a beautiful story. I know you miss him dearly.

Betsy said...

Your daddy seems like such a wonderful and sweet man. I smiled just looking at his happy face in every picture. And I am so thankful for men like him who sacrificed so much for all of us.

I'm sure you feel so blessed to have had him in your life, but I know you must miss him so much.

Thank you for sharing this story!

Laurie said...

Your Daddy was a very very sweet man. I thought about him and ya'll on the 4th. I remember when he passed away. It is wonderful that you have such a great heritage.

MiMi said...

Your dad seems like such a wonderful man and how fitting that he passed away on the 4th of July!
Thank you for sharing all the great pictures. A very touching post.
Emilie

Megan L Hutchings said...

This was such a sweet post! Your daddy seemed like such a kind man and his smile is worth a million bucks ;)!