Happy Birthday to my dad.

June 29,1919 to December 17, 1997

I recently went back to the little Bear Creek Church that I attended when I was a child.  I went there for the 50th wedding anniversary of the neighbor boy who was my brother's best friend so long ago yet it seems like yesterday sometimes.  Things have changed so much in the area where I grew up.  The old home place is no more.  It is now part of what the government calls progress.  It was taken from my family and turned into a lake.  My father's family had homesteaded the area along the banks of the Osage River.  They worked long and hard to turn it into productive farms.  They raised cattle, hogs, chickens, crops and kids.

 Dad in California early 1940s before war

My father was one of five sons.  One brother died in infancy.  One brother farmed just to the south of our farm.  My great-grandparents had originally built the house where my uncle lived with his wife and two sons.  My grandmother had moved into their home, which was located between the big house and our home.  It was so neat having Grandma just down the road.  I didn't realize when I was young just how lucky I was to grow up in such a wonderful place.

This is one of my favorite pictures of my dad.  He always dressed so dapper back then.  As a kid I remember his well shined cowboy boots and shirts starched and wrinkle free. He never went to town unless he changed out of his dirty work clothes.  He always smelled like Old Spice.

He rescued this beautiful horse when she was nothing but skin and bones.  Most people probably wouldn't have bought her but he did.  He named her Stardust.  I think it broke his heart when he had to give her up.

 This young lady is one of my cousins. This is the way I like to remember my dad.  He always had that smile, even when he got so sick he still managed to have that smile.  I remember one of the last things he said to me was be sure and take care of your mom.   He used to go out and pick wildflowers when he would go to get up the milk cows. That was a side that few people probably ever saw.  He taught me so much.  He taught me that there is a lot more to life than material things.  I think he is the reason that I find so much joy in the simple things in life.  That is why after visiting the church and the area where I grew up the day before his birth date that it was important to give him a little tribute.  You earned it Dad.  I miss you so much.