A Soulful Journey

Three women started boasting about their children.   “What a birthday I had last year!” exclaimed the first.   “My son, that wonderful boy, threw me a big party at a fancy restaurant.   He even paid for plane tickets for my friends.” “That’s very nice, but listen to this,” said the second.   “Last winter, my son gave me an all-expenses paid cruise to the Greek Islands.   First Class.” “That’s nothing!” interrupted the third.   For five years now my son has been paying a psychiatrist $150 an hour, three times a week.   And the whole time he talks about nothing but me.”   -Current Comedy. The best gift we can pass on to the next generation is wings.

Not all stories are the same although many bear striking similarities.   Here are some memories of fathers.   Some are good.   Some are not so good.   All of them point out the necessity of healing and love. “He’d take me out and get to drinking.   We'd go to a joint called the Jackson Bar.   He’d sit me up on the stool and start throwing back V.O. like it was water.   Get all loud and rowdy and ready to destroy Detroit.   Funny, he liked to fight with his friends. “Daddy,” I’d say, “we better go.” “And that’d be it.   He’d chill, just ‘cause I told him to.” Smoky Robinson “I remember thinking when they first told me he had died, if he only dropped by once to say hello.   Surely, he must have seen me on TV.   Everyone else in the country did.   I never was angry about Pop leaving us.   I figured there must be something between him and Mom that I didn’t know about.   He was always okay with me.   He had a g...