Daddy's Day

I may never list Father's Day as one of my favorite holidays, but every year when it rolls around, I am reminded of how special it is to me. It gives me a chance to show my Daddy how much he means to me. I hope you will forgive me, but I would like to use this bit of the world wide web to spread some Father's Day cheer... to my Daddy!

If you don't know Daddy, you need to. He is the most unselfish person I have ever known. I honestly think that Daddy gets up every morning thinking about how he can make sure those around him have what they need, my mother being the top of that list. He lives his life to make hers better. There is nothing sweeter than to see Daddy take care of Momma before she even realizes she needed it! He is like that with his children too. Somehow he knows when and what to say in every situation, and when it's best to say nothing at all.

To hear him tell a story about growing up in Vinegar Bend, brings tears to my eyes. Not because his stories are so emotional and touching, but because he can't tell the story without his own eyes welling up. Don't get me wrong, growing up I saw the stern side of him too. But those rare times were always followed with a hug and an assurance of his love for me.

So Daddy, enjoy this day and know that you are loved everyday for the kind man you are. I can see you now, tears in your eyes, partly because you are touched by my words and partly because you are frustrated by how long it took you to figure out how to get to my blog. Don't worry, I never said you were a perfect man!

Only four of us are privileged to call you Daddy, a privilege I hope I never take for granted. You know, maybe Father's Day will become one of my favorite holidays after all... right up there with Mother's Day, of course!

Prayers

I hope when you look at the picture I posted you see exactly what I am intending. I want you to see a car with not a scratch on it! Is that what you saw? Let me explain... First let me ask your prayers for two families who's cars do not look as mine does. I was in the middle of a wreck today, I mean literally in the middle of a wreck, but came out without a scratch! I was on my way home from taking Hattie to Camp Sumatanga when the pick-up truck I was following turned left into on-coming traffic! It hit the car, spun it around and hit another car. Why I am even blogging about this is because I was the car in between the two cars hit by that truck. I slid to the side of road and asked God to take control, and He did! You can call 911 on a cell phone! I did immediately, but had no idea where to tell them the wreck occurred. By the grace of God, I told enough about my surroundings that they were able to figure out where I was. By now, a few other cars had stopped. I crossed the street to find a tangle of cars. As I tried my best to comfort the people, they became more than frantic passengers. There was a young uninsured mother, 3 months pregnant, who started this chain reaction by turning for a split second to hand her crying 1 year old a bottle in the back seat. The other 2 cars were 3 generations of a family traveling together. Sadie was around 85 years old and still grieving from the loss of husband last week. Sadie's daughter, 60ish, having chest pains but too concerned about her dog that had run out of the car and into the woods to care about herself. Sadie's grandson and his wife, 30ish, reaching out to all of the above. There were men in the street throwing debris to the side of the road to keep another accident from happening. After staying as long as I could, I went back to my car, sat down and cried. I cried for lives disrupted but saved. I cried for the much too close call I just witnessed. I just cried. I am writing this just hours after the wreck. I am still teary eyed and confused. I know all will be better for me in the morning but I just can't shake my thoughts of the other 2 families affected. I pray for them tonight as they hopefully are resting and recovering. God is good... all the time!

Day 1

No, I will not number each day of my blogs but I did feel like it was an appropriate way for me to begin. I hope to use this space on the web to connect and reconnect with friends, new and old. My plan is to faithfully use my camera to capture a little of what is going on in the O'Hara family, write out my thoughts, and eagerly await responses from friends like you! I never fully understood the use of these blogs until a friend suggested I take a look at her friend's blog. Wow! If I am able to do half of what she has done, then I will call my self a successful blogger! You may be asking yourself, "When will you ever have time to accurately keep up a blog?" And that is a good question, if you have not heard the news... I retired from teaching this year! I call it retiring but Vann calls it quitting. We have decided to compromise with the term resigning. After many agonizing nights about what God wanted me to do, I finally heard Him and reached a decision on Valentine's night. And I have never looked back! I still love the children. I love who I work with and who I work for, I am just tired... tired of not always feeling like I have done all I can do for each child, each day. After a while, that begins to drain a person. I feel so blessed that Vann and I see eye to eye on this and that we both know it is His will for me as well. So what will I do with all my free time? Ha! You can just call me head cook, cleaner and chauffeur! (You get the picture) I am really looking forward to catching up with you as I figure my way through the world of blogging! Bear with me, Friends!!