My Cup Overflows

It was Christmas 1968 and once again my family had enjoyed opening our gifts and celebrating the birth of Christ together. I received my first portable record player that Christmas which was the hottest gift on the must-have list. My sister remembers us playing different songs and dancing around with our father.

Somewhere between December 29th and 30th of that year, my father and a friend of my sister whom I’ll call Jeff left for King William County, Virginia to visit and check on my grandmother. One night while there, the two went to visit family and friends in the community. My dad began to feel ill, and Jeff took Dad back to my grandmother’s and they called 911. Dad never made it to the hospital that night; he died in route of a massive heart attack.

My sister’s friend was left alone to drive back to Delaware and deliver the news to us. I can’t imagine how Jeff must have felt making that four hour drive by himself to tell my mother she was now a widow and we had lost the king of our family. I will never forget the pounding on the front door early that morning or the sound of my sister’s sobs after the news was relayed.

Once the sun came up that day, my mom gathered me and my brother and our pastor came into the bedroom and told us Dad was gone. It seemed surreal. I was only twelve years old; my brother was nine. It felt as if someone had put me in an unfamiliar room, turned of the lights, blindsided me with a 2 x 4 and then pulled the rug out from under me.

I was my father’s little princess and I knew it. He was not only my dad but the king of our home. He made everything alright and now he was gone. I had no idea what I was supposed to do. But God!

Ciao!

Savannah J, providing a place of tranquility away from the stress of life. 

Http://www.thesavannahjpublications.com 

Follow Savannah on Twitter   http://bit.ly/1tBBC6o 

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Savannah is the author of The Prey now available in eBook on Kindle http://amzn.to/1xg0pgM and on Google Play Books http://bit.ly/1q5hncz

Also look for Raising Tristan on Google Play Books http://bit.ly/1pL4GqN and on Kindle http://amzn.to/1AlHl6g

My Cup Overflows

As I look back over my life, I’ve come to realize I had an amazing childhood. I was blessed with a loving family both immediate and extended. The hero of my childhood, my dad in my eyes was one of the greatest men who ever lived.

My father was both provider and protector of my mother, my sisters and brother and me. He made our lives both fun and magical. There was never a dull moment with dad and he could make walking to corner store or going to the park an adventure.

I recall one winter we had a really bad snow storm come through my hometown. Dad got my brother and me all bundled up in our snow suits, hats, gloves and boots and took us on a walkabout to the local five and dime store. As my brother and I warmed ourselves by the heater, my father and the owner of the store chatted it up. I remember my father’s laughter that night as it filled the store.  It was one of many nights when I felt safe and warm and loved.

During the days when I was in elementary school, we had homeroom mothers. The job of the homeroom mother was to chaperon trips, assist with class parties and bring treats for the students from time to time. Well, my brother and I didn’t have a homeroom mother, we had a homeroom father. You see, because my father was self-employed, he could close his business and help out around our school as needed. The boys in our classes especially enjoyed having dad around.

There were so many other things he did that brought us joy. For instance, sometimes on Saturdays, my mother would pack a huge picnic lunch. Dad would load our family and as many neighborhood kids as would fit into the car and take us to the park. There he would play all sorts of games with us like kickball, baseball or even dodge ball.

It may seem as though my focus here is only on my father and not at all on my mother. That isn’t at all the case; I couldn’t have asked for a better mother.  You see during my childhood, my father was the one who made our lives magical and fun. He was the playful and adventurous one; the pillar of our family. And then one early morning at about 3 a.m. or so, there came a pounding on the front door and in a few short words, the magic was gone.

Ciao!

Savannah J, providing a place of tranquility away from the stress of life. 

Http://www.thesavannahjpublications.com 

Follow Savannah on Twitter   http://bit.ly/1tBBC6o 

on Google Plus http://bit.ly/1pnq9sP 

and on Facebook http://on.fb.me/10p1o32

Savannah is the author of The Prey now available in eBook on Kindle http://amzn.to/1xg0pgM and on Google Play Books http://bit.ly/1q5hncz

Also look for Raising Tristan on Google Play Books http://bit.ly/1pL4GqN and on Kindle http://amzn.to/1AlHl6g