I thought I lost a day!!

Do you ever think you lost a day? Tim, Sandi, Tyler and I were on our way back from Atlanta on Saturday night and drove into a torrential rain storm. Prior to the heavens opening up and giving us more rain than we could handle, lightning was illuminating the late night sky. We had hoped to drive all the way home but when at 10:30pm we were still north of Gainesville and everyone was driving with their 4-way blinkers on or else parked by the side of the road, we decided to call it a night. (We did stay in a hotel so we weren't stranded by the roadside!) For some reason, I must have had water on the brain because after I awoke, I told Sandi, "Oh, no! I forgot to call my dad yesterday -- Father's Day!" She said, "Uh, Mom. TODAY is Father's Day!!" Yikes! I must be losing it!!

So, I called my dad about 3pm after the family had descended upon Glenn Oaks and all had dinner with him. It was an exciting time -- around 25 were there. (On the third Sunday of the month, Glenn Oaks hosts a dinner for families of residents. Usually about 300 people are fed during that time!) I missed being there but saw him a couple weeks ago and then will see him again in a couple weeks. I called him primarily to read my tribute to him over the phone. He cannot see very well now so to have given him a beautiful card would not have meant as much as writing some beautiful words about a very important man in my life. (A special photo above of Rachel reading his Father's Day cards to him.)

So ... here are a few photos. What was Allen thinking? Probably that he was remembering that he had to drive ALL the way back down to Camby Camp to pick up sermon notes he had forgotten on Saturday -- got home about 12:30am?? I know -- too much information, right, Allen? One of our girls (can't remember which one) said, "Why didn't he just 'wing it'?" I'm sure he probably could have but reminded the girls that with the relatively modern invention of "Power Point", it is important that he keep somewhat on track. (Allen is a very good speaker so I can poke some fun at him ... side note, he doesn't always stay on track! LOL!)

(Okay ... Allen told me the facts about the photo -- he wanted us to remember that our family has never been the same since he became a son-in-law -- so, as the cameras were ready -- he jumped right into the picture with this pose -- leave it to Allen ... we truly have never been the same. But, we love him anyway!!)

Mark, Joel, Allen, Tim

Dad, Thad, Rachel

(Shelley, Mark's wife, joined the photo below)

It's funny -- perspective changes over time. My dad wondered (to Rachel) if he had portrayed that they were poor a little too much as we were growing up. (Across the tracks, etc.) I assured Rachel that Dad had told us true stories (verified by his family) of receiving one gift for Christmas - a pair of socks. Can you imagine what would happen today if a child received that as the only gift for Christmas? Wow!

Anyway .. while I wasn't able to be there, I knew that my brothers would post photos and so they did. So, Mark, I'm hijacking a few photos for my blog -- hope you don't mind! As you can see, they took up several tables!

Four generations!! Joel, Joel II, Joel Richard and Dad