Happy Father's Day to My Dad

I wish my dad was here today so I could wish him one more time a Happy Father's Day. Dad passed away in December 1997 at the age of 85. He'd buried two wives and was dealing with health complications related to old age. He was ready. He knew he was going to Jesus when he died and that was all he needed to know.

My dad was one of my first cheerleaders when I got serious about my writing. It was during my coursework in an accelerated adult program at Trinity International University that I was first encouraged by my writing instructor to write professionally. Until then I figured my love of putting words on paper would go no further than my daily journal or a church newsletter. When I told my dad what my instructor said he said, "I've always known you should write." LOL, so far as I could remember he never told me. But from that point forward, he never stopped asking how it was coming, listening to me read my stories and articles and offering advice. I'm certain it is his DNA that gives me my writing skills. He was very creative, both with writing and art ability. An ancestor of ours was also a writer. My local library even has copies of his American history books, written back in the 1800s!

There are two things I'm thankful for. First, that Dad was able to see me finally get my college degree many years later than when I should have , and second, just before he died I was able to show him my first published article in Today's Christian Women Magazine.

I only wish he could be here today to see the other writing I've published and how far I've come with my fiction. During a creative writing class I'd taken a diary his mother kept in 1899 and 1900 when she was courting my grandfather and wrote a short story from it. I had to use a lot of creative license to craft an actual story, but he was thrilled when I read it to him. Today I read that story and realize how very far I've come since then with my writing ability. I have confidence that if God wills it, I will have that book contract. I don't know if once you get to heaven you're so caught up with being in God's presence all earthly concerns fade away, but I sure hope somehow Dad learns about it.