Write your own story in 100 words or less.
_______________________________________
Send your stories in 100 words or less to
wspbooks@johnwfountain.com_______________________________________
Your Stories...
How Things Change
After 32 years we are back together again. I gladly and humbly accept my ordained duty to care for you the same way you cared for me. To make sure you eat correctly, have a proper diet and exercise as much as you can. To converse with you on important matters or just to shoot the breeze for ten minutes or so. To say Goodnight and Good Morning to you everyday for as long as I can keep you. This is my prayer this is my life and I accept it willingly with love the same as you did for me. My how things Change!-- by Henri A. Sallis
In Loving Memory from a Loving Son
Dear Dad, On this the eve of the 15th anniversary, I don't know how I got through the last 15 without you. So many questions answered that I want to tell you, that you were right; and so many questions that I don't yet have the answers for.
I find myself struggling with the facts that I am not where I am supposed to be. Yet I hear you telling me, "just do your best."
What you have allowed me to learn in life cost you a great deal—dreams, hopes ambitions, an education— all lost for the chance to get a son a front seat in the theater of life. I have found over the last 15 years that no one can follow in your footsteps. And as I have grown, I have realized that only one person could ever do what you did, walk like you walked, and spoke as you did—and that was you.
I miss you--Ralph E. Branch
* * * *
A Beautiful Girl without a Dad
I grew up knowing there was a dad, a man who had fathered me, but I never really knew him. One day I was in his presence as a young girl and I'll never forget the feeling of "Wow, this is my dad." I did not know why he wasn't part of my life, but was just as happy as can be, because I was with a man I knew was DAD. Until one day as a grown married young lady, I really began to wonder about this man who knew I was his daughter. Why wasn't there any communication, visits, birthday cards sent, just no father and daughter connection? Well, the pain is there and I am trying to pray and allow God to take the pain away and/or help me to forgive him and move on with our lives as dad and daughter. This is really affecting me now that I am older; I guess I can say I just want answers and want God to deliver me from this pain.-- EMP
* * * *
"Dear Dad, young, black and with a wife and two kids, it must have been overwhelming at 18 to walk into Dodge Main and leave your youth behind. The Motown Sound drowned out by the roar of the assembly line. For 38 years you built cars and created a future for us. I never knew want or poverty because of you. You made 25 years the day I graduated law school. Every day, I look at the law degree that hangs above my desk and think of you. Your labor and love made me possible.
With Love and Gratitude"
Benita
* * * *
"My dad was an absentee father, who for the little time he was around, wasn't worth the air he sucked up, and as I look back, I can see how that shaped my early adult life and my ability to choose the wrong men and unhealthy relationships. In the end, I'm better for it, because he also taught me what I don't desire in a mate, what kind of man I don't want my son to grow up to be and what type of man I don't want my daughter to marry. Realizing the type of man he was and still is, I am truly blessed that he was indeed absent." -by Renee
* * * *
"My dad was a troubled man with an intense spirit. The son of an alcoholic mother, he struggled with young fatherhood. The murder of my sister when she was four and I was five threw him into further chaos, where he sought solace in heroin and alcohol. Though he was absent, I honor my father for allowing God to use him to bring me into this world. Through it all, God did not leave me nor forsake me. Instead, he removed me from toxic terrain so that He could plant me in fertile soil and watch me blossom. "-by Gina Davis
_______________________________________
Send your stories in 100 words or less to
Everyone has a story to tell. Reflecting on fatherhood - your own experiences with your father or with fatherlessness - through the vehicle of writing can be a healing, renewing and liberating.
We invite you to share your experiences here. Our writing advice: Simply imagine you are speaking to your father and begin with two simple words:
Dear Dad...
Send your stories in 100 words or less to
_______________________________________
