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Dad, There’s a funny noise.....

The human mind is a fascinating God-given creation. In a lifetime we are able to store volumes of information and at a precise moment recall minute details that have been stored away for weeks, months, or even years. Now, I also realize that sometimes we forget, or are unable to recall important details needed at specific intervals in our lives. Like the student attempting to recall an answer for an exam, or trying to remember what your wife told you to pick up at the grocery store. I believe this results more from our inattentiveness than from any memory deficiency. What does all this have to do with Father’s Day? Good question.

Glenda and I were returning home yesterday after spending a good day together worshipping and visiting with family. The gravel road we travel here in Newfoundland is very rough and the car has developed some interesting rattles. It was during one of those rough sections, when the brake calibers were rattling and something thumping in the trunk, that the phrase, “Dad, there’s a funny noise in my car,” rose to the forefront of my thoughts as quietly and easily as if it had been whispered in my ear. The significance of that phrase is.....Amanda would often speak it when arriving home from University. Somehow I was supposed to know the source of that new noise and be able to do something about it. Sometimes I did, but sometimes I had to take it to a friendly mechanic. The last thing I remember replacing on Amanda’s car, her 1987 Chevy Celebrity.... “her caddy”, was a rad. It took me most of a Saturday, but I didn’t mine.

Father’s Day is approaching and I find myself reflecting in two directions. On the one hand my thoughts turn to my dad who has spent the last three years in a chronic care unit. Alive....but barely! A gentle and loving man enduring his last moments of life without dignity and totally dependent on many hands for his every need.

On the other hand, my heart would skip a beat if I could but hear once again those familiar words from the lips of a precious daughter.... “Dad, there’s a funny noise in the car!” But the reality is that will never happen again. On this Father’s Day I’ll visit with my dad who may not even realize I’m in the room and ponder the memories of a daughter taken much too early. Such are the peculiarities of life. But reality. Fathers, hug your children and love them, we have them but for a fleeting moment.

Remember drinking and driving could make you a killer!

Be a responsible dad!