In Honor of Our Father (Lonnie Ralph Treadway)

In Honor of my Father

With life's demands, time is far to short
Seems work is never done.
We rise each morning to meet the day,
We accomplish the most we can.

We give little thought to how we feel,
At times the chores seem foul.
We strive, we toil, always busy about,
Making a living the best we know how.

Come rain, come snow, we rise and go,
The tasks before us still,
It seems the day is never long enough,
But continue on we will.

For the children have needs, they must be fed,
Clothed.....and sheltered too.
It's not about how good or bad we feel,
We do what we must do.

Without thought of how our bones may ache,
We rise and meet the day.
Not knowing how it will all turn out,
We make ready, the work, our stay.

The work we have learned, from those before us,
Not always an easy task,
But work we shall, it's in our blood,
We know it will make us last.

Dad, I have seen you work your whole life through,
In rain, in snow and cold,
Never knowing what the day would bring,
On what the evening holds.

With the chores of this life that never seem finished,
There was very little time for play,
But nonetheless, you continued on,
Your love evident in many other ways.

When but a lad, I wondered often,
While you couldn't just stop and have fun,
But now I know---as a father and a parent,
The work....it's just never done.

The things we had, a result of your work,
Never knowing hunger or pain from the cold,
Always food on the table, a warm place to sleep,
Many blessings I know went untold.

Dad, I'm thankful for all the work that you've done,
I can never tell you enough,
But don't think for a moment we haven't realized,
The hard work you did was for us.

It children eyes, it's difficult to see,
What is important for the whole,
Caught up in the moment, our world was small,
Even selfish for wanting you all.

We know we were blessed with the time we had,
Although then unable to see,
Memories of these times, when I experienced you laughter,
Will forever be priceless to me.

I just couldn't understand, for you enjoyed it so,
Back then, why you didn't do it more often,
But it was those special times I felt your love most,
Making music....hunting....fishing ......or just talking.

You imparted a gift, without even knowing,
Showing us to do the best that we can,
The work you did.....it reflected you,
Your name...your work, it still stands.

Dad, I want you to know, I still remember,
When at the neighbor's house as a kid,
I was always proud...they spoke with respect,
Of all the things you did.

I have watched you work on many broken things,
With me thinking....how can he know.
You would study it for a bit, then you would start,
And it the end.....you would always make it go.

I know you thought then and maybe even know,
That us boys weren't even paying attention,
But you taught us well, about right and wrong....
About life---and making a living.

I have thought many times when faced with a problem,
Of which I have never encountered,
I will think of you, Dad---I'll study it a while,
And then I'll come up with a solution.

When but a small boy, I heard of a truth,
From a man sharing wisdom in ryhme,
He said, give a man a fish and you have fed him for a day,
Teach him how.....and you've feed him for a lifetime.

My admiration for your skills, the ingenuity you've displayed,
It never ceases to amaze me.
Many, many times I just sit and reflect,,,,,,
With Love----Dad, I think you are Awesome.

I've given this much thought, read it again and again,
And the words, they seem shallow at best.
Hopefully one day.....in Heaven perhaps,
We'll have time to sit....to laugh...and to rest.

Timmy Dean Treadway 3/1/04