Saturday, A good day to be alive!

 Picture of the day!

                 My 1st Grade Picture, 1945

 FS: (Fore-script!) Just wanted to say thank you for letting me know I am not alone in pronunciations and accents. Love y'all.

 NOW.. For today:

My daddy was born on January 14, 1903. Thirty-six years and three days later, little Jackie was born.  That was 87 years ago.  My daddy liked to say he was three days older than I. ;-)

Dad passed away when he was 69, it doesn’t seem fair that I have lived nearly 20 years longer.

His death happened while I was stationed in GITMO. I received an overseas call from my BIL saying, if I wanted to see dad before he passed, I needed to get home. My skipper allowed me to grab an emergency seat on a plane and fly to Norfolk. Where I took a flight to Charlotte, NC.

     The USN would not allow the family to fly home until after the actual death, so they came a few days later. There was bad weather in Charlotte, and my plane could not land; it was diverted. Dad passed during this diversion.

So Of course, this time of the year is a happy time for me having lived another year, but always a ‘spot’ of sadness that I did not get to see dad in his last hours.

An oddity about life. Children of a pastor or Military man do not have roots.. As pastors move they leave family scattered, as military personnel do. i.e. Son Jack Jr was born in Biloxi, Ms. And Mark D was born in Kirksville, MO. AT this time we had visited my brothers and sister that lived in Shelby, NC.

(Jack Jr. in the clothes basket on one of our many trips to a launderette.) Kirksville, Mo.)

Jack Jr. Left home while we were in Key West and Mark left home when we were in Washington DC.

                    Mark at 6 months in Kirksville also.

Anyway, I was 6 years old when we drove within 4 miles of Grandma Darnell's house. I remember that day hearing dad say as we were in the area but headed to our home 100 miles away.  “I should drive over and see mama since we are this close, but I must get back to the church for service.”  He had no way of knowing at that very time the family was trying to contact him, his mother was dying.  Three hours later we drove into Burlington, NC. AT the parsonage the phone was ringing, one of his brothers called saying he needed to be at Grandmas house, she was dying.

WE drove back the same route, we were back before she took her last breath, but dad NEVER forgave himself for not taking the few minutes to stop and see his mama.

As a 6 year old I will never forget the sight of all grandmas 12 children around her bed, when she took her flight.

So, on my birthday I am a happy guy, but I will never forget that great guy who left this world TOO soon, and was three days older than I.

Thank you guys for helping me celebrate 87 years here on earth. About 70 of them with the prettiest girl in the world!

Nite Shipslog

 

PS:  AGAIN.... Sometimes I worry about my sanity.  LOL  Most humans are a little crazy at times, maybe I am just a little more crazy!