Saturday, June 18, 2005

Thinking of Bill Smith, my dad on "Dad's Day"

Well, once again Father's Day has arrived.  Someone once said that "everyday is Father's Day." Well, that may or may not be true but at least we have one day set aside where we honor fathers.  The picture above is of my dad and myself on July 4, 1942.  The next day he left for Camp Shelby, Mississippi for his basic training with the Army. He served in Europe and North Africa as a train dispatcher in a railroad battilion. (This was also his civilian job before and after the war) I'm happy to say he returned safe and sound in October 1945.   I feel I was blessed with a great dad.  Oh, there were times when his temper flared but I imagine it was due to my stubborness from time to time. Basically, he was pretty even tempered, he was kind, loving, honest, generous and thoughtful. He worked hard and always provided for the emotional and material needs of his family. And the most important...he really, really loved my mother.  "I have heard more than once that, that is the most important thing a dad can do for his children."   He was a devout Christian who served as a sunday school teacher, deacon & elder of his church and also served as a school board member of the Christian school started by their church. I don't remember ever hearing him and my mom fight ( I've checked with my brother on that one) they both always showed each other love & respect and the same to my brother and I.  After my mom passed away in October 1987, it was like part of him was gone, too.  He was with us until September 1990, long enough to see his oldest grand daughter married and even though he'd had a stroke and was very ill...we did constantly tell him that his first great-grandchild was due in April of 1991.  I will always be grateful for the blessing of having the mom and dad that God chose for me. On this special weekend, I want to also say Happy Father's Day to my brother, father to three beautiful grown daughters and to my son-in-law, father of my two wonderful grand children.  I know there are lots of dads, step dads & foster dads out there who will never receive the recognition they deserve, so my hat's off to them too !

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a lovely tribute to your Dad.  My Dad was called Bill Smith too, he also served in WWII, in India and Burma. Sadly he died in 1984, but I still miss him terribly. Fathers Day is a special day to remember them. :-)

Sandra xxx

Anonymous said...

This was a great tribute to a Father who loved your mother beyond what we see in today's world.
I don't remember my mom and dad every fighting or raising their voices to each other either.
We excuse todays stress and nerves on our eruptions but the stress they endured, we have yet to see.
Father is a word reserved for that person who loved and cared for me his entire life, without sharing a drop of the same blood.
Thanks for the memory Linda.
Charlotte

Anonymous said...

Linda, This is truly a great tribute to your father and to all fathers.  Jan

Anonymous said...

What a touching tribute to your dad. Sounds like he was a wonderful man and father ~ Lori

Anonymous said...

Nice thoughts and tribute!
Tess

Anonymous said...

If your Dad helped liberate France, he's in my prayers on Fathers Day as well.

Anonymous said...

Wow, what a great Dad you had!  It sounds like he was a really good Christian man.  And the fact that he didn't fight with your Mom speaks volumes!  Everybody should try to achieve a marriage like that!
I found you through Scalzi's journal.  I am finally getting around to reading the contributions from the assignment where he asks everybody to list their favorite entry of the year.  I enjoyed reading yours.  Mine is not such an upbeat one, but you can read it if you would like.  It is about my husband who was recently diagnosed with bone marrow cancer.  Here is the link:
http://journals.aol.com/fisherkristina/SometimesIThink/entries/896
Krissy