162 lines
6.4 KiB
Plaintext
162 lines
6.4 KiB
Plaintext
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BUT YOU DIDN'T
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. Almost forty years ago my father gave me a wonderful little
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plaque that said simply: "Never give up." The Never Give Up plaque
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still hangs above my desk and contains three of the most powerful and
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important words I've ever heard or read.
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. I wrote the following poem just after learning that my dad, now
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seventy-six, has cancer. I wrote it to honor this very special man
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whom I have the privilege of calling my father.
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Dad,
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. Remember when I broke the window at the neighbor's house? You
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know, the great big one? I tried to get you excited about the fact
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that I'd hit a home run in the process; But by the look on your face
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when you found out how much it was going to cost, I thought you were
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going to strangle me,
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BUT YOU DIDN'T
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. And remember when you found out that I had sold the Minister some
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books on how to mix drinks (that I'd found in the alley) just to make
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some extra money for Christmas presents? I thought for sure that you
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were going to tell me that there was going to be no more Christmas for
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me,
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BUT YOU DIDN'T
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. Do you remember, Dad, when I borrowed your best knife, kinda
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without your knowing it, and kinda lost it? Oh I felt awful. I knew
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that you were going to tell me that I was a screwed-up, irresponsible
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kid,
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BUT YOU DIDN'T
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. Remember, Dad, when I split my head open for the fourth time in
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only three years? For sure, I expected you to tell me that it was a
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really dumb thing to do,
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BUT YOU DIDN'T
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. O Dad, can you remember when you tried to teach me how to drive?
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And I became an instant imbecile, unable to remember which pedal did
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what, making the car jump up and down all over the road? I felt
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certain that you'd adopt me out to another family until I finally
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learned how to drive,
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BUT YOU DIDN'T
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. And, can you remember, Dad, when you let me use your car, for
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that "extra special" date and I got into an accident because I was
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trying to show off? I was afraid to come home because I told her you
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were going to ground me ... for at lease a year,
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BUT YOU DIDN'T
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. O Dad, you were always surprising me, always loving me more than
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I ever deserved. Somehow you always knew just what I needed. Like,
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remember when I didn't make the team that year and I came home in
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tears, feeling pretty sorry for myself? I was confident that you'd
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join me in my self-pity party.
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BUT YOU DIDN'T
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. Or, years later, when I finally made the All City and All State
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teams and even got a scholarship to go to Stanford? I thought you'd
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be so impressed and tell me that now I "really had life made,"
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BUT YOU DIDN'T
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. I guess that's why you didn't seem so surprised when I got thrown
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in jail for "celebrating a little bit too hard" after a State
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Championship game. Remember, Dad, (how could you ever forget) when
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you and Mom got a phone call at 4:30 in the morning from the chief of
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police asking you to come down to the jail and get your son? All the
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way home I waited and waited for you to blast me.
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BUT YOU DIDN'T
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. The first words, in fact the only words, you said to me were:
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"Come on, son, let's go have some breakfast." How did you know, Dad?
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How did you know? At the time of most critical failure; at the very
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time when I knew that I had let you down the most, you knew, you
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remembered to remind me that I was your son - period ... in spite of
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it all.
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. How did you know? For a man with only an eighth - grade
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education and no time to read, because you were always working more
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than one job just to keep your family going, you were sure smart. No,
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more that that, Dad, you had some of that "wisdom" that must have come
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from the Other Father. You always told me that you and "The Man
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Upstairs" (as you were fond of calling Him) were pretty close friends.
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. The years passed, and our friendship grew even closer. I can
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remember, Dad, the first time we had lunch together - just you and me,
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alone. I was in my late twenties - almost a grown man. We laughed
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and you told me stories about your youth that I never knew before.
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That lunch seemed to go on forever. After that, you seemed even
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closer and I began to realize who you really were ... and how much I
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really loved you. Memories ... Special ones ... Aren't we fortunate,
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Dad, to have so many? Steve and I have a lot of rich memories,
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because you made sure that we experienced a lot of life ... together.
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REMEMBER, DAD,
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. When we used to go duck hunting at Midnight, our little dog, was
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so small that she couldn't drag the ducks back?
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. When I brought forty-three kids home from a Young Life camp at
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three in the morning, to sleep on the floor?
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. When you and Mom could dance all night and still knock the socks
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off everybody at work the next day?
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. When your sons finally graduated from college (it was something
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you always wanted for us)?
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REMEMBER, DAD,
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. When Steve, your number - one son and my number - one friend, got
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married in Boston? What a grand celebration. You were so proud,
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. When we couldn't wrestle anymore?
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. When you got honored for being the top man in your region - an
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honor few men get (still working) at the age of seventy-four?
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. When you first had to tell me that "California was a long ways
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away" and that you would like to come down, but maybe later...?
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O Dad,
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. I've never quite had enough words to be able to tell you and Mom
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just how much I love you.
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. Remember when Pam and I finally got our first house and the
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children came? We wanted so much for you to be able to come visit,
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BUT YOU DIDN'T
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. You couldn't anymore. For a growing number of reasons. You
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wanted to so much, but California was "such a long way."
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. Remember, Dad, the day they broke the news to you that you had
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cancer? Everyone else seemed to fall to pieces,
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BUT YOU DIDN'T
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. Never have I been more proud of you, Pop. The quiet courage that
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you showed us all those years, sometimes when we weren't even aware of
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it, has shown all the more brightly these past months.
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. I never heard you complain. In fact, I've never seen you laugh
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more richly, Pop, and never seen you so much at peace.
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. I'm understanding, at even deeper levels, those three precious
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words you gave me four decades ago.
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"Never Give Up",
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because,
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YOU DIDN'T
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From .. "What kids need most in a Dad." By Tim Hansel
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Computers for Christ - Chicago
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