Tuesdays With Pappo: "French Fry Family"

 TUESDAYS WITH PAPPO

liz etheridge sekerke

Yesterday Pappo asked me, as he does most every week, whether I thought he and Mom did a decent job of raising us three kids and what I thought he should have done differently.

As we sat there in the Braums Ice Cream booth, I thought about his question.....about how I could provide an answer that would satisfy this need he has to know he didn’t fail as a Father.

I looked down and saw a square white napkin laying on the table. It reminded me of a slab of fresh concrete. I placed it in the middle of the table.....grabbed a few french fries and told him to pretend this was a concrete foundation for a house and these french fries were his family (enter a sweet giggle from him ). I explained this slab was the foundation he and Mom had built by pouring into us about a God who loves and cares deeply for us. And that if we just put our trust in God instead of ourselves and allowed Him to guide our lives and steps.....our foundation would never crack.

I reminded Dad that all three of his kids had built their own lives on this very foundation he and Mom had poured for us. Even though our lives all looked radically different....and we had all suffered damage from winds of hardships and storms of struggles in our lives, and yes, could have chosen to build our lives on a different foundation than the one he and Mom built for us....we didn't. Our foundation was sound.

I saw tears in his eyes as he looked at the napkin with the family of french fries before him. I hope and pray those tears were tears of realization that he had, indeed, not failed as a Dad.....as my Pappo.