I Spent Father's Day in Brooksville

 What Are Fathers Made Of?

A father is a thing that is forced to endure childbirth without an anesthetic.

A father is a thing that growls when it feels good . . . and laughs very loud when it’s scared half to death.

A father is sometimes accused of giving too much time to his business when the little ones are growing up.

That’s partly fear, too.

Fathers are much more easily frightened than mothers.

A father never feels entirely worthy of the worship in a child’s eyes.

He’s never quite the hero his daughter thinks . . never quite the man his son believes him to be . . . and this worries him, sometimes.

So he works too hard to try and smooth the rough places in the road for those of his own who will follow him.

Fathers grow old faster than people.

And while mothers can cry where it shows . . .

Fathers have to stand there and beam outside . . . and die inside.

Fathers have very stout hearts, so they have to be broken sometimes or no one would know what’s inside.

Fathers are what give daughters away to other men who aren’t nearly good enough . . . so they can have grandchildren that are smarter than anybody’s.

Fathers fight dragons, almost daily.

They hurry away from the breakfast table . . .

Off to the arena which is sometimes called an office or a workshop . . .

There, with calloused, practiced hands they tackle the dragon with three heads . . .

Weariness, Work and Monotony.

And they never quite win the fight, but they never give up.

Knights in shining armor . . .

Fathers in shiny trousers . . . there’s little difference . . .

As they march away to each workday.

Fathers make bets with insurance companies about who’ll live the longest.

Though they know the odds they keep right on betting . . .

Even as the odds get higher and higher, . . . they keep right on betting . . . more and more.

And one day they lose.

But fathers enjoy an earthly immortality . . . and the bet’s paid off to the part of him he leaves behind.

–Excerpt from Paul Harvey News, American Broadcasting Company, Father’s Day 1950.

This weekend the boys and I went to Brooksville to have Father's Day with my Daddy. Stephen and Nathan and their buddy Matt Ferguson painted the M-Club all weekend. The color is perfect for the setting at the lake. The paint color is called "Cabin Plank" and the trim is "Woodrow Wilson Putty." Sunday I went to Brooksville Baptist Church with my family then the entire family had lunch that Mama prepared. We had a great time at lunch discussing the interesting sermon about Fathers, one of the young men read the Paul Harvey monologue and the sermon was about how men should be leaders by loving their wives and family properly. We also had fun telling family stories and crazy weather stories. Afterwards I went back to the cabin to watch the boys finishing up painting. I know Daddy and Matt are proud that the boys finished all that work on Father's Day. 

Happy Father's Day to Matt and Daddy!! 

Also on Saturday night I stopped by the Noxubee High School/ Central Academy Reunion. Below is a picture of the group! Centered is Coach Wayne Stewart. He coached so many of these guys including my brothers Tiny and Keith. It was fun watching all the folks cutting a rug at Land of Lakes Lodge.