A Photo Reflection for Father's Day

By Ralphine Major

It is the last in our family series of pictures taken on Easter Sunday 1973. I was wearing my now familiar navy and white polka dot dress as we were dressed for church. This time my brother and I are standing alongside our father. The surprise subject is Wayne's dog, King, who may be the most photogenic of all. Back then, the day of picture-making just seemed normal. Looking at the picture today, it is a treasure. In August it will be 29 years, the anniversary of our father's death. I suppose it is human nature to recount the number of years when special days come around.

Father's Day is celebrated in June. Our father's birthday is also the week of Father's Day. He would have turned 97 years old. The picture shown here is a snapshot of but one day in our lives, but I see so much more in it. It was taken a couple of years after we had moved to the mini farm. Ralph loved the land, cattle, horses, riding the tractor, and gardening. Eight years earlier he had developed a heart condition whereby his heart became enlarged and beat irregularly. Several years after selling his dairy cattle, he looked out one day at the farm and realized he could no longer work it. Our parents made the decision to sell the farm and move to an acreage with a pasture field, but otherwise woodland. We spent the summer before my senior year in high school cutting enough trees to clear a space to build a house. I cannot recall taking family pictures in this spot near the gravel driveway as shown here, and I am not sure we even took pictures on some holidays. But on this day, I am so glad we did.

May all those reading this column be blessed with special memories of their fathers to carry with them through the years. Truly, fathers are the backbone of this great nation. Whether our earthly father is living or deceased, we can take comfort in knowing that we have a heavenly Father who loves and cares for us. Hope your family had a blessed Father's Day 2023.

Words of Faith: "The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him." Proverbs 20:7 (KJV).

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