Reading Sue's post made me think back to my father. What I
remember most was his coming to the house after a hard, labor intensive day and washing up before supper. After supper, he settled us in his lap and told us stories that he had made while he was in the field. They were always to be continued the next day.

He and his mother taught me about uncoditional love. The kind that accepts bad behavior and loves you anyway. One of the sorrows of his life was that my sister and I did not
get along with my mother.

His illness and death was very hard. He suffered from prostate cancer that had gone to his bones. It was five years of misery that happened just after his longed for
retirement. The last loving thing that he did for me was to
have my brother in law put new tires on my car while he was
in the hospital. He was worried about all the driving I did
since I had to cover seven counties in Southeastern Oklahoma as part of my job at the Education Service Center.

We were very close and I treasure what he said to me and
what he taught me by example. He was the rock that his
sisters and brother leaned on. He was a small man, quiet
and a little shy but so very strong and such a presence in
the life of his grandchildren.

I love him and miss him still.