Blue Babies Pink, Episode 11, A Good Father.

Camp ended and I came back home to prepare for my freshman year of college.

I'd always wanted to go to the University of Alabama where dad had gone,

but because of his health I knew I needed to stay closer to home,

so I enrolled at the much smaller University of North Alabama, just a few minutes from our house.

Both my brothers were married by then, so it was just me at home with mom and dad.

By that fall, dad could barely walk, so he spent most of his days in a medical bed.

He couldn't eat solid food and he'd lost a lot of weight.

Mom and I took care of him and he'd ring a little bell when he needed us.

Dad loved the football program at the critical and he'd ring a little bell when he needed us.

Dad loved the football program at the Christian school I'd gone to. He was very sick that fall but insisted on going to a game,

so I took him.

We sat right next to the sideline and I held an umbrella to shield him from the sun.

He wore neck brace which helped keep his head up. My friend Amanda took a picture of us that day

and it's still very special to me. Memories from childhood are funny things.

We pretty much just remember the really good things and the really bad things that happen to us.

This sucks if you're a parent because kids don't remember the million tiny

mundane things you did for them. Most of our childhood memories slip away

from us, slowly disappearing into the quick sand of the mind. But God, God lets us keep a few. He lets us remember.

I remember trips to Tuscaloosa and cold bottles of you who. I remember wrestling matches on the floor. I was a nap compared to your big sturdy dad frame. I remember you liking anything flavored like coconut. I remember your soft spirit

and coarse hands. I remember you sitting on the couch watching golf every Sunday afternoon until

you dozed off. I remember hanging out with you

...