A Special Day

Today is a special day in life in Durwood's world. It is special for the usual reasons in that it is another day of life and it is a gift from the One who made all things. But this day is special for a very significant reason because it is Dad's 80^th birthday. Both of his parents left this earth before reaching 80 years and that makes this milestone a treasure not to be taken lightly. The fact that Dad is still with us is a rich blessing. "The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away." One might say that we live on "borrowed time" once we reach 80 years of life, so I thank the Giver of life for every bit of time that He allows Dad to stay with us. He is doing quite well just a few weeks after the so-called "mini" strokes he experienced recently and for that I am also thankful.

This afternoon Mom has planned a celebration to honor this special birthday. The weather is relatively pleasant for the 25^th of February and that is a blessing as well. There will certainly be many family and friends that will come to help Dad celebrate this special day and to wish him well. There may very well be some who will be there that I've not seen in some time and will enjoy visiting with them on this special occasion.  So today while the sun shines bright, we are going to celebrate this monumental milestone with a very special man. Whatever time may remain for us to be blessed by having this great man in our lives will be considered a precious gift from God. As each day passes, I must remember to be grateful that Dad is still with us and express that gratitude at every available opportunity.

Time With The Kids

Basketball has been a kind of first love in life when it comes to sports and that never really changed but bad knees put an end to my playing days many years ago. When our son came along the dream of spending time with him and teaching him some of the things learned playing on a team that ultimately won the state championship was very exciting to me. But after two years of Tee ball and one year of baseball and Saturday morning basketball, Heath had all the ball playing he wanted. Dream crushed! Tiffany also played two years of Tee ball and she was finished as well.

A couple of years went by and suddenly Tiffany decided she wanted to play Saturday morning basketball. That first year she played basketball, I got to help coach the team and it was a thrill. Her team went undefeated that year and it was a fun experience for her and for me. In the spring she decided to play softball and soon found she could hit a softball as far as anyone her age. She ultimately played three years of basketball and five years of softball. The time that I got to spend with her helping to teach her about basketball and softball left me with memories more precious than fine jewels. It presented opportunity for closeness with her that was otherwise far too rare in our relationship during her first 18 years.

Fortunately during their time at home, I was able to spend time with Heath doing other things besides playing ball. As it turned out, he liked hunting and fishing, though more fishing than hunting, so we got to do some of that together as he was growing up. He also liked camping and the two of us had opportunities to camp and a few times our entire family went on camping trips. The camping trips that he and I made when it was just the two of us were great times that help to cultivate a closeness that was very special to this father. Those were some very enjoyable times and are treasured memories that I look back on with immense pleasure.

During the time the children were growing up the family took several vacation trips along the way. Although we had some really good times on those trips it seemed like there was a lot of time spent fussing about what we were going to do and where we were going to go. Strangely enough, once the children grew up and their mother and I began to take trips with just the two of us, all that fussing went away. I can't recall Lynn and myself having any argument about what we would do when we got to our vacation destination. Because of our ever increasingly cluttered lives, the time we have had to spend together on those vacation trips has actually been some of the most pleasant times we've spent together as long as we have been together. Those are times that I've looked forward to with excited anticipation as the opportunities come around.

Life in my world has rarely taken the path my imagination planned out and the child-rearing experience certainly was no exception. Even so, the relationship that I have with my children in their adult years is pleasant and we see each other often. For that I am thankful. I truly am looking forward to spending time with my little grandson as he grows up and fully expect that there will be things in our relationship that turn out differently from what I've anticipated just as with his Dad and aunt.

A Daughter Is A Gift From God

This morning found me awake in the very early hours before daylight as the apparent result of too much pizza and garlic sauce last night. That hour and a half awake just happened to be about the same time a very special event took place 26 years ago. February 1, 1986 was another time I was awake in the very early morning hours. That was the day God blessed me with the wonderful gift of a daughter! Tiffany came into this world a tiny little bundle of wonder with a cute little round face and instantly captured Daddy's love. She joined father, mother and brother to complete our family of four and began her adventure called life.

Being a concerned father and conscience of the delicacy of a sweet little girl, I'd carefully explained to our 17 month old son, Heath, that he would need to be very careful and easy with his new sister and help to take care of her. Their mother and I spent the next few years doing all we could do to keep that "delicate" little girl from killing her brother. For example, one day when Tiffany was about six months old, we heard bloodcurdling screams coming from the next room and ran around the corner to find our little girl on top of Heath. He could not move or get her off and was screaming his poor little lungs out. So much for protecting her, we found we needed to protect him more so!

As she grew and developed, Tiffany exhibited strength in many ways beyond physical strength. She showed resolve and determination to accomplish things she desired to do and to develop the talents that begin to show brilliantly through as the years flew by. That resolve and determination could often be more along the lines of stubbornness and being strong-willed – traits that have in a lot of ways been an asset for her in the pursuit of a very good college education. But, as her father, there were some special times that I saw when the "little girl" came out in her. They were particularly special to me because those were the times when the daughter that fought against closeness to her father so strongly, needed Daddy and no one else would do. Those were times when she had been deeply hurt by something or someone in her life and Daddy was there ready to comfort and encourage her and tell her things would be alright. Those are times this father will always cherish!

So today I think about the blinding speed with which these last 26 years have flown by and the magnificence of watching my little girl change into the beautiful, talented and successful young woman she is today and thank God for His gift!

Two Plus One Plus One Equals Four

As we continue down the historical road of life in my world, we've come to the time in my life that Lynn and I were blessed with our two wonderful children. We could not have scripted our children's entrance on the stage of life any more perfectly. First there was Heath and a father could not have been blessed with a more perfect firstborn. As new parents, we truly thought that he was the most beautiful baby that had ever graced God's creation. Then Tiffany came into the world a mere seventeen months later. She was a scrawny little thing with a round little face and was so precious. She literally slept almost constantly for the first several months of her life, only waking long enough to eat and get a diaper change and then back to sleep. For the first four or five years many people who saw the children thought they were twins because they were so close in size.

Through the years, as they grew toward young adulthood, we found that their closeness of age and size were just about the only similarities in our children. Heath was very smart and laid back and easy to deal with and Tiffany was very smart and headstrong and opinionated and difficult from the beginning. As a father, it was great to have a son who enjoyed doing things with "Daddy" and there are some extremely fond memories in my mind's files of the times we spent together. My dream, when our daughter came into the world, was one of a sweet, precious little girl that would be close to her father and of the wonderful relationship we would have as father and daughter. But as she grew, Tiffany would push me away and resist my efforts to be close to her. Fortunately, as mentioned in a previous post, great strides in her maturity level during the college years changed that attitude tremendously.

During the first few years of the children's lives, there were a multitude of precious memories that could be revisited. The trust in Daddy that Heath exhibited early in life was manifested in his habit of getting a running start and "swan diving" on me confidently expecting me to catch him. I can remember him crying to go with me to cut wood and then screaming in terror when the chainsaw cranked up. He'd eat pizza sometimes until he literally could not hold it. Then there was the time in his first year of tee ball when he was down to the very last pitch and he hit the game winning run. He was completely oblivious to the fact that he'd just been hero for the day! Memories of Tiffany's sweetness on occasion have a special place in my thoughts. Once while carrying her across the yard at a relative's house, she suddenly threw her arms around me and hugged me for no obvious reason. Another time when we were in Gatlinburg, we walked into one of the many gift shops and she immediately called out "Cookie Monster" when she saw a balloon with Cookie Monster's image on it! She was a big Cookie Monster fan back then. The little kinky-headed baby girl could really be sweet at times. On a trip to Opryland when she was four, as we made our way out of the park one night, she exclaimed "I'm tired" and so Daddy carried the little doll the rest of the way to the car. Such moments as these are truly special memories for a father filled to the "gizzard" with love for my two children.

More recollections of the children will come later but for now it is sufficient to say that those early years watching their development was both fascinating and a pleasure for a proud father. They were and are as jewels in a crown to their Mom and me. It is so true that "…children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is His reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them…" There are times when this father wishes he had more arrows.

Watching The World Float By

It would be interesting to know what the rain totals over the last three months are for our little part of the world. We have received a tremendous amount of rain today and especially this afternoon. There should be about two hours until dark at the time of this writing, but it has grown so dark from the cloud cover that I'm not sure if I saw a couple of Jeeps from my friend's Jeep business up the road just float  by or if my eyes are playing tricks on me. It's hard to tell which is faster – the rain or the rising water! But after years of dry to very dry conditions, I'll not complain about the rain.

We have good news to report since the last writing concerning Dad. He is home from the hospital and seems to be doing pretty well at the present. The doctors have not found any major issues that would contribute to the "minor" strokes that he suffered and have prescribed a blood thinner which they believe will prevent further strokes. We are praying they are right. He is also receiving some in-home therapy to get some physical issues worked out and hopefully will be back to normal activity very soon. Our world is one of uncertainty so it is wise to make the most of each moment of life with which we are blessed – especially those spent with the ones we love.

Another family crisis has arisen in the past week that is of great concern. The precious six month old daughter of our niece is having some very serious health issues. The doctors have given a wide range of scenarios as to what may happen with the little darling's health going forward and they will surely do everything possible to help her. In the meantime, we are praying and asking for everyone's prayers on her behalf and above all trusting the Great Physician to lay a mighty healing hand on this baby girl. Life persistently reminds us of our dependency on the Creator and that truly life "…is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."  If you have a moment, would you pray for this little girl?

There are only 14 days left in deer season and about this time of year my heart begins to yearn for warmer weather. Yes, that's a bit premature since there are still several weeks left of winter, but once deer season ends, cold weather becomes particularly bothersome for this old man. Warmer weather will afford opportunities for fishing which is a personal love second only to hunting. Getting far enough away from "civilization" that man-made sounds are difficult, if not impossible, to hear is a wonderful source of mental therapy. So as the rain falls on a cold dreary day, there is a pleasant anticipation of warmer days and cool, clear water. Life in my world – what a wonderful blessing… just watching the world float by!

Overwhelmed By A Crimson Flood

Our entire family was up two hours past my bedtime last night! Well, except for the dog; he slept as best he could. We watched LSU drown in a Crimson Flood! The Alabama Crimson Tide football team completely dominated LSU's football team. There are some clowns out there like that Wetzel guy on Yahoo and Gundy from Oklahoma State that just don't get the whole dominate defense thing. Wetzel called the game a dud and Gundy thinks he could score 35 points on LSU. There is nothing boring about watching a great defense crush the opposing offense and Gundy has never seen a real defense. His offense would look a lot like LSU's did if he played Alabama or LSU. Anyone can go back through college football history and see that a dominate defense will shut down a really good offense almost without fail. Bear Bryant knew what he was talking about when he'd say "you win championships with defense". But a lot of folks think if the final score of a football game isn't 67 to 56 that the game is boring – what a joke!

Alabama fans are thrilled that their football team has won another National Championship. Nick Saban is a master at teaching college players how to compete and win football games and we are grateful to have him as coach of Bama's team. Give him a month or more to prepare his team and he's going to beat you. There are a host of hypocrites that say they hate him who would love him if he happened to be coach of their favorite team. There are those people, even some high profile people, who gave Saban down the road about decisions he made as if they had never changed their mind about anything. Alabama fans are just happy that Mal Moore was able to persuade him to come to Alabama.

So in a world that often has far too many heartaches and problems to throw at us each day, Alabama Crimson Tide fans have another National Championship to relish in for the next several months. Then come September we can start working on another! A lot of other school's fans ridicule Bama fan's about our expectation of competing for a National Championship every year. The fact is, no team accidentally wins championships – if you don't have an expectation to win and work toward that end, you can bet you're sure not going to win a championship in anything. Roll Tide, Roll!      (January 10, 2012)

A Daughter, A Dog, A Boy And Grandpa

Fiction makes for interesting stories sometimes, but nothing is quite as intriguing as real life. Life rarely turns out the way we envision and usually makes a far deeper and lasting impression on our minds that the frivolity of a tale of imagination. Many events in the saga of life in my world have taken paths that are far different than any script I would have written had that been an option.

Our daughter Tiffany is a great example of this concept. My vision of having a little girl in the house was one of a sweet little darling that would be a joy as she grew into womanhood. Instead, it was an experience that took on the theatrics of two long-horned rams butting heads over and over. Her mother and I took our responsibility of guiding her through the transformation from little girl to young woman very seriously but the little girl in Tiffany often resisted. Her attitude was often less than desirable and because of this it was so amazing to watch the rapid maturing of our daughter as she began her freshman year of college. Being away from those who cared most for her and the sudden introduction of realities of life previously unknown to her caused an appreciation for things taken for granted beforehand. She continued to make great strides in personal growth and worked extremely hard for more than six years in completing under-grad and graduate training to become an Occupational Therapist. I am proud of her and the effort she put into the goals she set for herself and have told her that several times.

After completing her education, Tiffany got a job offer in Savannah, GA and moved there and worked for a time. While there she got a dog to help keep her company. It's a Terrier mix and is admittedly a cute little thing but it is an "inside" dog. I've never been a fan of any sort of animal staying inside my house. Well our beautiful daughter decided to take a job back close to home and has moved back in with us for the present time. So guess who, or what else has moved in as well! That's right! We now have an "inside" dog living with us. Actually, he's hilarious. More times than not, when I come home he comes running toward me barking like he's going to tear me apart and when he gets to the rug in the entrance hallway, he tries to stop and hits the rug and slides right up to me looking a bit sheepish. Sometimes he will hit that same rug when Tiffany opens the door to let him out to "do his business" and slide right out into the garage, rug and all. Not only is he hilarious, but he is a little bit paranoid as well. There is good reason for that, though, and it comes in the form of an almost three year old boy.

My grandson is a precious little sweetheart but can be a bit rambunctious and somewhat mischievous. He likes to try to get the dog to chase him and does so by kicking at him and generally pestering the ever loving stew out of him. Sometimes the dog chases him and sometimes he will bark and snap at him. Other times the dog will hug close to one of us trying with everything he's got to avoid my little grandson. It has become something of a challenge to try and make him understand that the dog doesn't like his style of rough play. It certainly makes for a lively and noisy time at our house when both the boy and the dog are there together.

In closing this post, I'll mention that another current event in life in my world is not developing according to my script. My Dad, "Grandpa" to the children and to my little grandson, is in the hospital having suffered several "minor" strokes. He is almost 80 and it's not that we were oblivious to the fact that something like this might happen sometime, but you never are really prepared for such an event. I'm fervently praying that he can recover and we can have him for a few more years. He really loves our little grandson and enjoys being around him and it is so precious to hear that little boy say "Grandpa" – it comes out more like "Gapa". A great grandparent is a luxury many of us never get to experience so every moment my Dad spends with my grandson is special. As I sit in my office and write this, there is a picture in front of me with my Dad, my son, myself and my grandson. Memories are forever!