Imagine

What can I say that could accurately describe how I feel right now? 

I am sitting in a room with my father. His breathing is labored and he hasn't really been able to speak much for a few days now. He hasn't eaten since the weekend. His time with us is drawing to a close. 

He will leave behind a wife that has stuck by his side for over 40 years, quite a feat in this day and age. A daughter that loves him unconditionally and a son in law that loves him like his he was his own father. Six of the greatest examples of young men and women that I have ever had the pleasure of being around, all of them better for having him in their lives. He will leave behind a large group of friends that extend from here to there and back again...

I wish that I could say I was easy to raise and I wish that I could say that I was always easy to love...I wasn't but he did both. My dad taught me how to rebuild a carburetor. He taught me to measure twice and how to cut once. He taught me what it meant to be loyal. He taught me the value of a hard days work. He taught me to shoot a gun and taught me how to use am Arkansas wet stone to get the perfect edge on a knife. He took me to watch the Razorbacks play football, basketball, and baseball more than once. We went to more gun and knife shows together than I can count. I had to pleasure of spending almost 5 years as his equal in the workplace, something that I had wanted since I was a little boy. That is a time that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. He was with me when my wife Dena passed away unexpectedly and I could see the love in his eyes for me when I stood in front of a crowd to speak about her for our friends and family. There wasn't a time that I singing in a church he didn't have tears running down both sides of his face. I never had to wonder if my dad was proud of me. He told me. He instilled in me the qualities that made me the man I am today...

As I sit here in his room, listening to his labored breathing, with music playing softly in the background I am praying to our Lord and Savior to give my dad the peace he needs and to reach down from on high and take him at His leisure. While I would gladly accept more time to spend with my dad, I don't have the heart to deny him what awaits him when he arrives in heaven. I can't even begin to comprehend the things that he will see or the people that he will get to talk to. His body won't be weak or feeble anymore. He won't have trouble walking because of his bad leg that he broke 5 years ago or get short of breath because his lungs will be filled with a new air, a rare air that we can't even begin to understand. My dad will be a whole new man inside and out. How could you deny someone that? While I will grieve his passing I know where it is that he is headed and I know without a doubt who is there waiting on him.