Father's Day

My Dad, James Thompson Sr.

I didn't really know my father that well.  My father got involved with alcohol before I was born and it pretty much took him from me and my family before I had the chance to get to know him.  I've said it before on this blog that my brother taught me almost everything I know about being a man, husband, and father(read Father Figure).  I  say that my brother taught me almost everything about being a man, husband, and father because I am still learning what it takes to be all of those things.  Two things that I have recently learned from older fathers when I have asked for advice:

1.  Don't give your kids everything that they ask for.  Instead, make them earn some of the things that they want.  That way they don't feel entitlement to receive things without working for them.

2.  You can work 5 jobs to provide all the material things in the world for your children.  But they want your time and attention more than anything else.

But I am also happy to say that I have learned some things from my father as well.  My father died about six years ago from terminal cancer.  But the man that died in Birmingham, Alabama was completely different from the man that I met for the first time at the age of three years old.  From what I have been told, my father met his father again for the first time later in his own life.  He also met a brother and at least one sister that he did not know were even living.  My father went from being an angry man without a link to his past to a man that was described by his pastor as a "peacemaker".  My mother (whom I adore for her sacrifices) went to my father's funeral with me, my brother, and my sister.  She, like myself, had not seen my father in over 10 years (they were divorced) and she was amazed by the descriptions of the person laying in the casket.  At one point in the service she leaned over  and whispered that she did not know the man that everybody was talking about.  He had changed that much over the years.

one of my dad's sweaters that

I obtained after his funeral

But unlike some people, my father changed for the better.  I am told that he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior late in his adult life and became active in his church.  He became a better man and took responsibility for his actions.  He tried to improve his life and he allowed other people to help him improve.  Even as he got closer to death, he continued to live each day as fully as he could.  It was because of him that I am here.  And it is his testimony that I can use to improve myself.  My father was not a perfect man.  He was not always a good man.  But he was a man that learned from his past.  And he used it to improve his future.  And for that, I will always be greatful.  Thanks Dad.




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