He was loved. Maybe at times he didn't think so, or know it, but he was loved and deeply cared for all his life. In his younger years he was charismatic and humorous - always the life of the party. It was not hard for him to make friends, what with his love for athleticism and games. He was shy, and deeply self-conscious due to various physical ailments in which he battled since childhood; but most of the time you'd never know it. He carried a confidence and pride on into his latter years that easily became a shield to protect him in the more challenging times.
He was a romantic - in all aspects of life. He loved art and drawing, he loved music of many genres, and shared his passion for music with any who came near. Music became his fortress, a safe place for his mind and soul to escape to when the demands of life became too hard to bear. He loved women, he loved the female nuances. He loved a woman; he was madly in love with her.
She taught him many things in the short time they knew one another, she introduced him to Jesus Christ in a more intimate way than he'd ever known. Through her life, he learned to live, through her death, he learned to survive. She gave him three daughters. Three girls to love and hang on him, harass and annoy him, pick him up and carry him. In each of them, he saw their mother - in all of them, he saw himself. He knew the Lord, and he loved Him. He knew his life was in the Creator's hands at all times, and he found hope in that.
He lived a life that at times seemed burdened and hard-going. There were many days when the onslaught of life's little tragedies seemed to come on again and again like the crashing of waves, but in those trying times he'd still find ways to laugh, he'd still find songs to dance to, he still found moments to be enjoyed. In his darker moments, he kept to himself and did not let many people get too close. In those times he did not know how much he was loved, how many people cared for him.
Today it is known that he was loved. If not by the people around him, always by his Heavenly Father, always by the Author of his days.
I wrote this with my daddy heavily on my heart. He is currently going through some of the darkest days he's yet seen, and in these moments truth and love are difficult to penetrate his mind with. In these darker moments he falls prey to the lies of an even darker voice and those lies perpetually tell him he's of no worth. I wrote this with my heart fully convicted of my love for him and of the desire for him to know the truth. His life is worth the love of blood and sacrifice from a King - and nothing can separate him from that love (Romans 8:38-39)
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