I learned a lot from my father
growing up. He taught me to always do
the right thing, be respectful of others, and to forgive. I’m still working on those things, especially
the last one. Helping Travis coach Colton’s
baseball teams always brings back a lot of memories. Its ironic that we play our games on the
exact same fields that we played on growing up.
There were several years that Deddy coached Travis’ Tee Ball team and my
Little League team. He was really a dedicated
Father to take on that much responsibility.
But we did have some great times. Now Travis and I are going through the same
experience and we are really enjoy doing it.
Travis is good at details and organizing our efforts. He teaches them if they work hard, they will
get better………I make them believe it.
Deddy
did not just tell us how he wanted us to live, he led by example. He was
absolutely committed to doing the right thing.
He honored his mother and father, respected Mama, encouraged Travis and me
in every way and he loved us all. He
loved his 3 brothers unconditionally and I think they would all agree that if
any of them needed someone to talk to about anything, Deddy was the one brother
that they all knew would give them good advice without judgment. He would also kick their asses if he thought it
was deserved and necessary. He was
always quick to resolve family issues.
He felt like that in a lot of ways, people were as strong as their
family. So, he liked everyone to get
along and keep peace.
Respect
was also important to Deddy. He offered it
to everyone that deserved it and he commanded it from others. He used to often hire people on “prison release.” I worked with many of those guys through the
years during the summer. We never had a
problem at all. Deddy treated them the
same way he treated everyone else. There were a number of times when some of the
gentleman would be released and come to visit Deddy to thank him for the opportunity
and for treating them with respect. I
always thought it showed a lot of integrity by my Father to take a chance with workers
that had been deemed a criminal by the rest of the world.
Forgiveness
was the attribute of my father that I simply have a hard time
understanding. I saw many people lie to
him over and over again, interrupt his weekend to borrow $20, let him down time
and again, and Deddy would give them another chance. And another. And another. And……you
get the idea. He just always said that people
make mistakes and it takes some people a lot more to learn their lesson than
others. It drove me crazy but always
made me admire him for his compassion towards people even when they had done
him wrong.
When he found
out he had cancer, our family was devastated.
He basically called a meeting at Mema and Papa Brafford’s house with them
and his brothers. Everyone was overwhelmed
with concern but Deddy was the voice of reason and assured them that he would
do everything he could to overcome the cancer and regardless, everything would
be alright. He was the one with cancer
and also the one that gave the encouragement.
Of all
the people whose lives were affected by the passing of my father, my life was probably
affected the most. It changed my career
path, I lost my advisor for everything, and I took on an incredible amount of
responsibility. To this day, there are
things that I am dealing with that were left when Deddy passed away. But the truth is, I don’t regret it. I had such a wonderful father that the
responsibility that I inherited is a small price to pay for the example he set
for me and Travis. I miss him every day
for his advice, support and encouragement.
I miss him for his great sense of humor.
I often regret that he is not at our Little League games so he can tell
me and Travis what we did wrong when the games are over. But as I consider that this will be the 19th
Father’s Day we will spend without him, I am glad that he gave us life lessons
that will last forever. I think for my family and friends, I have evolved into
the voice of reason for a lot of things.
I am certain that is something that Deddy would be proud of.
I wish
all of you a very Happy Father’s Day! I
hope those of you that still have your Father get to spend some time
together. For those of you that have
children, I hope that you are able to spend time with your kids and relish in
being a father. You never know when life can change, so take advantage of all
opportunities you have with your loved ones.
May God bless you all! #keepthefaith
#HappyFathersDay
