My Dad

This Sunday is Father's Day and every year it makes me think of the man I called Dad...well Granddad. He was my role model, my hero and "Superman" all rolled up in one person! Ralph Carey Inman moved to Texas from Illinois on a wing and a prayer, hoping for a promised job. He moved his family to Pecos where he worked on telephone lines. He was married to Erma and both of them found another love (besides their girls) in Jesus Christ in Texas. He wasn't one to go to church, initially, because he didn't have the "right clothes." So a pastor drove to his house with my Grandma and offered him three out of four suits so that he would come to church with my Grandmother. There they became so in love with God that Ralph decided he would seek to become a pastor himself. They, then moved his family to Stanton and took to pastoring the Baptist church at Stiles, Texas (just north of Big Lake). Family circumstances led him to resign as their pastor a few years laster but returned, with the help and prodding of my Grandmother, to pastor Valley View Baptist Church just south of Midland. It was there that my brother, Anthony, and I grew up going to Sunday school and worship every Sunday and Wednesday. I learned how to care for a wife, for children and to love God with all that I am and all that I have by his example. He was our provider, our shelter and our strength. He was disciplined yet loving. He was hard and soft all at the same time. He taught us how to drive and how to fish. He showed us how to fix a lawnmower and throw a ball. And every year I miss him. I miss his smile that would light up the brightest of nights. I often wonder what he would think of how we turned out. And I wonder how he would spoil my kids and love on them and teach them as he taight me. You see, he didn't have to take me and Anthony in but, for one reason or another, he and my grandma decided to call us their own and give us a home filled with love and support. He left us too soon which still hurts today. Every year, as Father's Day approaches, is my time to remember Ralph Carey Inman and the legacy of love and support he left with and in me. I only pray that I would be able to live up to his examples. I miss you Granddad....and I love you, still, after all these years. Happy Father's Day!!