Happy Father's Day to my husband, Don and all the other dads out there. I want to talk about these two men in my life.
My dad, Herman Barnard, went to Heaven 5 years ago in February 2007. I miss him to pieces. Dad was born in a small town in South Georgia called Glennville. It is about an hour from Savannah if that helps you place it. My grandfather was a farmer and a Baptist minister. Dad never wanted to farm so at 17 he left home and moved to Atlanta and looked for a job. He lived in a boarding house for a while and worked for Tennessee Corporation. He met my mom on a blind date and they were married July 21, 1951. Dad decided that it couldn't be all that healthy to work around fertilizer so he decided to look for something else and became an insurance salesman with National Life Insurance.
When I was born in 1958, dad had 3 children and was 28 years old. The first 11 years of my life we lived in a tiny house on Oak Street. The funny thing is, I never really knew that we didn't have a lot of money. We didn't get presents except for birthday and Christmas but we didn't feel deprived because none of our friends did either. I remember my dad studying his Sunday school lesson one last time on Sunday mornings and watching "Gospel Singing Jubilee". He loved The Florida Boys and The Inspirations as well as The Speer Family and The Happy Goodmans. He used to take us to the Atlanta City Auditorium for all night singings. My dad was also a City Councilman in College Park and really cared about the city. College Park was a different place back then and it was a wonderful place to grow up. We had the small town feel yet we were still close enough to downtown to have the city feel too. My dad wanted to visit all 50 states before he died and he almost made it. He and my mom loved to travel and they were blessed to have been to Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Spain, Austria, Italy, Norway, Finland and Sweeden. My dad and my uncle also met up with one of my uncle's Army buddies in London and traveled all over Western Europe to England, France, German, Lichtenstein, Monte Carlo, Belguim and many others. He was a faithful husband to my mom and I will never forget him standing by her during her illness and sitting by her bedside during the last few months of her battle with ALS. He was fortunate to have met and married another wonderful person in 2000, Ann. I know God has a plan but I still to this day don't understand why God only allowed my dad and Ann to have 7 years together. But I have the assurance that Dad and Mom are in Heaven.
The other man is my wonderful husband, Don. Don grew up in Southwest Georgia and moved to Atlanta in 1983. We met in 1984 at a Singles retreat as part of First Baptist Atlanta. It wasn't fireworks or love at first sight but we became very good friends. We all went out in a group but my friends somehow orchestrated that we end up sitting together on many occasions. I will always be grateful for their "matchmaking" skills. Later that year a mutual friend suggested to Don that he ask me out and also came to me and asked if I would consider going out with Don. I told him sure, but he has never asked. Don asked me out and our first date was on October 27, 1984. Because we had been such good friends, we didn't have to put on any pretense. I also felt like I'd known him forever, possibly because I had prayed for my future spouse since the age of 16. Back then our youth pastor told us to pray for our future spouse even though we may have never met them and might not meet them for years to come. So I had been praying for Don for 10 years without even knowing his name! But God knew. I met his family that Christmas and on New Year's Day in 1984 he proposed. We were married on July 6, 1985. (I had wanted to get married in May or June but First Baptist Atlanta was booked solid so we picked July 6.)
During our 27 years of marriage, we have faced some tough times and have had many blessings as well. I have never met anyone as hard working as Don. During the 5 years we went through infertility and through the death of my parents, he has been my rock and my encourager. I know I couldn't have made it through those valleys without him. I admire his work ethic and integrity and his gift of mercy. He loves to help people and he prays for his family and friends every day. During his time of unemployment, he kept such a great attitude and even took a job at Home Depot just to keep busy while looking for a career job. I am thankful that my children have a dad who truly loves them and wants the best for them. He lives the Christian life in front of them and is a great role model. He loves his family and enjoys spending time with us. I am so blessed to be married to him and I look forward to many, many years of love and happiness. Happy Father's Day Don! I love you!
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