So sorry to hear of your loss... Our fathers are special to us. I have lost mine and share in your saddness,,, Your poem was a tribute to him..caroljane in Mo... -----Original Message----- From: Gerald Johnston <gerald.h.johnston@worldnet.att.net> To: MOTANEY-L@rootsweb.com <MOTANEY-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Saturday, October 19, 2002 11:34 PM Subject: [MOTANEY] Bill L. Johnston -- Missouri Boy -- Died OCtober 16th > My dad died Wednesday, October 16th, 2002, after a two week illness. This is something I started on this summer, but he never got to see it. I hope it comes through somewhat in the right format. He was born in Joplin, in 1929, with Roots in Taney Co., and the White River Valley area too. > > > >This is for Bill LeRoy Johnston, 1929 to 2002. > > > > > > > > Daddy's Hands > > > > > When Daddy held my hand, >The world was safe. > >Cars couldn't hit me; > >Forests weren't ever scary; > >Bullies couldn't hurt me; > >Needles weren't so frightening; > >And life was good. > > > >When Daddy held my hand, > >We'd walk in the woods. > >I'd be 'Little Running Deer,' > >While he was 'Walking Deer,' > >And we'd have 'ventures. > >A flower, or a bird, an acorn, > >Or even a puddle > >All became lovely wonders > >For little boys > >And daddies too, > >And life was full of joy. > > > >When Daddy held my hand, > >We'd go on errands too. > >Hardware stores were > >An endless fascination > >And we'd find treasures there. > >The stationary store had bins, > >With smells of inks and paper, > >Which made me think of Daddy, > >Working away all day, > >With all those sights and sounds > >That he'd come home > >And tell us all about, > >And life was good. > > > >When Daddy held my hand, > >We'd go to church. > >I'd sing in the choir > >And light the candles, > >While he would watch and smile. > >I learned the stories and the promises > >That his daddy once taught him. > >Big Brother and I, together, > >Learned that God is always with us, > >And life was full of hope. > > > >When Daddy held my hand > >After I couldn't catch a ball, > >Kept falling down the stairs, > >Off curbs and things like that; > >He and Mother took me back to Oklahoma, > >Where they operated on my eye, > >Saving me from total darkness. > >They gave me strength to > >Work and exercise that lazy eye, > >To make it strong again, > >But they let me peek , > >Out from behind the patch, > >The only time I cheated, > >For they told me how I mustn't, > >When the men walked on the moon, > >And life was renewed. > > > >When Daddy held my hand, > >He always held Lynn's too. > >When Big Brother went to school > >And I was still at home, > >The love was always equal. > >Each of his boys' differences > >Were overwhelmed by strengths - > >Not weaknesses. > >Lazy eyes learned how to share words, > >While the one who longed to read, > >Could shine in so many other fashions, > >Guided on so many paths > >That the two almost became one; > >Even graduating together, > >The first to ever do so of their kind, > >With hands held tightly, > >Heads up high, > >Tears of joy, and family all around, > >And life was whole. > > > >When Daddy held my hand, > >And tried to teach me how to drive, > >I was too grown up to hold on. > >Algebra was just a foreign thing > >I wouldn't try to understand. > >A teenager knows everything, > >And thinks fathers aren't so smart, > >And life was so much lonelier, > >While we were grown apart. > > > >When Daddy held my hand, > >And sent me off to college, > >It felt all right to go. > >I went away to Oklahoma, > >For he had been there too, > >But he wasn't with me. > >I felt lost and oh so lonely, > >Until he came to see me, > >But he had to go back home. > >I didn't do so well there. > >I was too young to know, > >That just because he wasn't > >There to hold my hand, > >I would be fine, > >And life was such a vale of sadness, > >Eleven hundred miles across. > > > >When Daddy held my hand, > >I graduated > >And came to Arizona, > >Where he helped me > >Find my way again, > >Even when I didn't want to try. > >I searched the whole world over, > >But came back home to stay. > >I became a teacher > >Just like he had done, > >To gather strength from young folks > >Sharing knowledge every day, > >And life was fun again. > > > >When Daddy held my hand, > >The very last and final time, > >He mouthed the words, > >"I love you!" > >I said I never doubted, > >All the years of love, > >And begged him to fight whatever > >Took him too soon from us. > >But those trombone player's lungs > >Just couldn't win that fight. > >He taught us all that life goes on, > >And we will be okay, > >Because Daddy's hands will really > >Always hold our hearts, > >'Till we see him > >In those Halls of Glory, > >>From whence we'll never part, > >And life will be forever > >Although for now > >It breaks our hearts. > > > > Gerald Hankins Johnston > > October 18th, 2002 > > > >==== MOTANEY Mailing List ==== >"An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come."--Victor Hugo > >============================== >To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: >http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > >