My Dad – February 16, 2013

OK. I admit it. I did not take this photograph. I did some slight restoration, though. Let me introduce you to my dad. James Larkin Pattison Jr. I am the third. This may be the only photograph I own of my father, a man I really never new. My parents divorced when I was 5, maybe. I’m told that I saw him 2-3 times, strike that. I’m told that he came to see me 2-3 times over the next 4-5 years, but I really don’t remember. I’m told he was angry with me the last time he came to visit, and grabbed an oleander switch, and beat me with it across the back of my legs, until I had bright red welts, and could not stand any longer. As an adult, I never knew my dad. I remember getting a phone call, letting me know he had passed away. I did not think I cared. I did. The opportunity to ever know him, or have a relationship with him was gone. At least in this life.

This post is dedicated to Billy Starr Senior, who by all counts was a good man, a good husband, and a good father. I attended a viewing this evening, to support his son, my friend BJ, and his sisters Jerita, and Deborah. I never got a chance to really know Billy Sr. I met him lots of times, but dementia, and Alzheimer’s took him away from his family a long time ago. Evidence of his stature, and his goodness, is his children, and grandchildren, and how they conduct themselves, with integrity.  I’m a better person for knowing them, and spending time with them. Thank you BJ for allowing me to be a small part of your life.