Dad

No high-rez pictures of him ... just some grainy scanned images from some three decades ago.  Today is my 27th Fathers Day without my Dad, Tom Moore.  Still, his influence lives on in me and the myriad of lives he touched.  He left this world far too soon and he is missed.


But today, I pause to think of what he did give me - both the good and the bad.  I can say that because Dad was a passionate, loving man with flaws.  In fact, perhaps his biggest flaw was also his biggest strength.  Dad loved people.  He loved them so much that, over the course of his life, he poured himself into them rather than take care of himself to a great degree.  In the end, I have to believe that all played a part in his early departure from this Earth.

If you were to ask my wife, you would get a different perspective on Dad.  She only knew him for 1-1/2 years and saw a far different man than I had known for the previous 20+.  He had mellowed and wasn't quite as stressed as he had been.  Still, his love for people and his willingness to invest in them continues.

As I look back on it all, I know that Dad invested his heart in me as well.  I can imagine the talks we'd have today were he around - far different than we did nearly 30 years ago and yet the same.  Dad showed me the Better Story and I, in turn, can now show that to my daughters.  I've come to believe that is the role of a father.  Story - the Better Story God offers - is what we need and what we need to offer to those who come after us.

I love you Dad ... and I miss you as much today as I did the first Father's Day without you.