The Mountain Breeze: Unbroken ties to my Daddy

September 26 was always a special day at our house. My Daddy’s birthday. Elbyrne Jackson Thomas. He was the baby of five and according to family reports, always a character. He certainly was the best friend I ever had. I was Daddy’s  girl through and through. I think of him every day eleven and half years since he died, because in my heart he is still with me.

Last night I went to the movies with the senior adults at my church Fincastle United Methodist Church. The only single in the bunch. Oh my. But I am a good third wheel. We had dinner first at Logan’s and then over to see Unbroken: Redemption. For years Daddy taught Sunday school and sang in the FUMC choir.

The one thing I can say is I have liked both Unbroken movies. Not for the weak in any event. My Dad’s only brother Bill Thomas came back from WWII in the Pacific in bad shape. Unlike Louis in the movie, he did not get over the trauma until the last 7 years of his life. My Daddy stuck by him always. As Daddy’s girl, I became an extension.

Uncle Bill told me about the horrors he suffered from Guadacanal through to Okinawa. I was 12 years old, and it was pretty heavy stuff.

But I did my best. I think compassion is an innate part of each of us. Some connect to it, some don’t. I thank God every day that I did. My Dad had compassion, like God’s love, for his only brother. Not unlike Unbroken’s Louis’s brother Paul had for him. I loved Uncle Bill. He had what today would be called PTSD.

I visit the cemetery, he is buried with Mom and Dad, and take flowers for the three of them. Ironically, Daddy died on Uncle Bill’s birthday. One day I will know what all of that means.

My favorite part of Unbroken: Redemption was when I heard Daddy speak to my heart. He was a man of many sayings. Just amazingly so on the money with his sayings. Here are a couple of my favorites before I am back to the movie and the real point.

“If you argue with a fool it proves there are two.”  “Some people will climb a tree to tell a lie, instead of stay on the ground to tell the truth.”  “The good Lord is the great equalizer. He will get you in this world or the next, but rest assured he will call you out.”

He loved my mother like a champion. I was the child of a Dynamic Duo  couple. I was so fortunate to be raised by them. He said something that always stuck with me. “I want to be a happily married man. The two most important words in the world to me are, “Yes, Dear.” Louis alludes to that in the movie. Not quite hitting the mark, but it sure resonated with me.

Daddy told me that saying more than once when I was pushing Mom’s buttons. ‘”You know how much I love you, but I will always take your mother’s side in your squabbles.”

Then he would say it. “Right or wrong. I want to be a happily married man.   The two most important words in the world to me are, “Yes, Dear.” And he meant it. When I got her going and I could do it, he would admonish me to be a better daughter. He never once in my life with my parents took my side over hers. The secret to his happy life he felt was “Yes, Dear.”

I dream of him in heaven sometimes. They live in a house by a lake. Two story, double front porches, dark wood siding, green tin roof and red shutters. She always waves from the porch. He is always fishing on the dock, Daddy loved to fish as much as he loved to eat. He is always anxious to show me his catch. Last week, three of the cats from my childhood were there with him. He was just laughing and I was, too. He is happy in eternity.

“Yes, Dear” forever. Happy Birthday, Daddy. I will miss you until I see you again.

Go see Unbroken: Redemption. It is a good movie.