Part 13 If Oak Trees Could Talk

Part 13 If Oak Trees Could Talk

Welcome back to Part 13  If Oak Trees Could Talk! Once again it is my pleasure to bring my story to you each week! I am excited as I do these blogs each week as I am working on another Inspirational Romance Novel along with a sequel to a Juvenile fiction entitled Caleb’s Cereal.   I would love to complete at least one of them in time for Christmas! In the meantime let’s read or listen to Chapter 7 A Father’s Love!

Chapter 7

A Father’s Love

Once Henry was alone he looked at the journals that Amelia had left him. He then stared at the old Oak tree hanging before him and with pencil in hand began once again to fill pages with memories. This time the memories of his Dad came to life.

Henry’s father, Russell William Tyler was a very hard worker. His philosophy was if you’re going to do a job, do it right or don’t bother. He sometimes come off very rough and short tempered and so Henry felt like he wasn’t pleasing unto his father. However, there was an event between Henry and his Dad that changed Henry’s life forever.

Both Henry and his Dad were driving to Crawford County one afternoon to pick up some automobile parts for Henry’s Dad’s car, when a deer came barreling out of the woods and stood right in front of the car.   Henry’s Dad was driving and before he could steer the car in any direction, the deer lunged right into the windshield. Henry wasn’t hurt; however Mr. Tyler was knocked completely out and was bleeding profusely. Henry tried to wake his Dad with no response. He then realized that he had to get help, so he was able to scoot his father over enough for him to get into the driver’s seat. Henry drove his Daddy’s car for about two miles to the nearest house to summons help. Henry was only nine years old at the time and acted very mature and responsibly. Mr. Tyler suffered a concussion and had several stitches in his face but was fine because of Henry’s quick response. Henry remembered the gentle way that his Dad patted his hand as he was being loaded into an ambulance. He smiled at Henry in a way that Henry had never seen or never noticed before. Henry had the assurance that he needed from that afternoon that he was well pleasing unto his Dad.

While Henry penned the memories of his Dad, he found himself once again exhilarated. He stared intently at the picture of the old Oak tree hanging before him and a floodgate of memories came back to him.  

“It’s out of here!” Henry yelled, as he recalled hitting a baseball completely over the fence when he was only seven. He was on the Tigers pee wee team where he had a baseball glove that seemed entirely too large and a cap to match.   He remembered the proud look upon his Dad’s face when he looked up in the stands.

“It wasn’t at all what I thought it was! My Dad was always pleased with me wasn’t he old friend?”

As Henry sat alone in his room it was as if he heard his old friend saying “Yes, Henry, your Dad was always pleased with you!”

As one event after the other played in Henry’s mind, the memories of Henry’s Dad smiling at him flooded Henry’s heart. It was as if Henry could feel those gentle pats of assurance from his Dad once again as in the evening of the deer accident. Henry gently smiled as he penned every emotion and tears stained the journal’s pages.

As his fingers stiffened to the demand that Henry placed upon them, he felt almost as desperate as he felt that night that his Dad hit the deer. He felt that the freedom he was trying to achieve challenged him to do things that were scary but necessary, as in the time he drove his Daddy’s car in the night to get help for his Dad. In Henry’s thoughts he was even more desperate to get help for himself and his dear Helen. As another page was completed and the tears seemed fewer, Henry tenderly closed the journal. He then found himself giggling as joy of discovering that his Father loved and was pleased with him seemed to free him even more. He could feel guilt and condemnation of the past loose it’s hold and roll away. Henry took a deep breath, while winking at his old friend. Placing the journal back inside the bedside table, once again, he closed his eyes in sweet sleep.

 

Thank you for reading or “tuning in” today. I have so enjoyed sharing If Oak Trees Could Talk!   As you can tell I have quite the imagination so it is not difficult to imagine myself sitting across the table from you my readers as if we’ve been friends for a long time!

If you would like to comment on this blog or Subscribe to my Youtube Videos, I would love to hear from you!

I also wanted to personally thank a great friend Greg Hetherington who allows me to be a weekly contributor to http://www.lakeviewtimes.com an Online Newspaper that he started and uses to reach out to his community and to Authors, bloggers, etc !  Check it out if you get a chance!

Until next time, thank you again for “Tuning in!”