I Just Wanted to Make You Proud, Daddy

 It's just one of those evenings, Daddy.

Sometimes, the void left by your trading in ashes for beauty creeps in.

All it can take is a scene from a T.V. show. You loved the Andy Griffith Show. I grew to love it with you through the years. 

There is that one scene in the first technicolor episode where Opie intentionally loses his job so that the other boy can have it in order to pay bills while his father recovers from illness. Andy asks Opie to forgive him for rushing to judgment and puts his arm around him. "When I was bragging about you earlier...I told them how proud I was to have a little boy like you. But, that's not quite true. You're a man."

I know, Daddy, that you would never want to trade the splendor of being in the presence of our King and our Savior. I long for the day we are reunited in his presence.

All I hope is that you remember me.

All I ever hoped for was to hear that you were proud of me. And that as a man...it's my turn to do as much good as I possibly could. And, yes, you fulfilled that need for me many times. It's just tough sometimes when you wish to hear it one last time.

Charles Schulz once asked in a T.V. special, "Why can't a memory roll away like a tear? Why do I go to my window hoping you will appear? ...'Cause I miss you. 'Cause I wish you were here."

Good night, Daddy. 

Your Loving Son,

Brian




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