I was rummaging around in my keepsake chest and came across an article that the late Marian Smith (Travis' mom's mom) wrote for a magazine. I don't remember which magazine it was published in.
This is a story about my dad and at the end he talks about his struggle with cancer. I was so overcome with emotion that I was crying while I sat in my closet and read the article.
It was the very paragraph that helped me regain my confidence that my dad is with Jesus and completely whole.
Marian wrote this as told by David H.Hall
Where was my Mommy? I missed her hugs. It felt like death. She'd left me off at Granny's, at Riddle, Oregon the week before saying she'd be back by Monday to pick up my sister, Clayetta, age 8, and myself. Each day I thought, "Mommy will be here today." Finally I gave up hope, it was 3 years before I would see her again.
I found out Mamma (Granny) and C.C., my step-grandfather, had adopted us. My name changed from David Larson to David Hall. That's what those bewildering meetings with men called 'lawyers', Mommy and my grandparents were all about. My father came to see us twice saying he wanted to keep up but couldn't afford to do so. He remarried and I didn't see him for many years.
Mamma and C.C. took us to church showing us the love we needed so desperately. I realize it was only by the grace of God they could, in their fifties, take on raising 2 kids. They took us on a trip to the mid-west to show off their new "children". "Mamma" was my mother's mother and I'm sure this 4'11" tiny lady of 80lbs, was heartbroken over the situation.
C.C. insisted both of us should be kept together. I loved riding on the tractor with C.C. and going hunting with him. Life seemed better as I had 2 loving parents now.
One evening, when I was 12, I was told it was bedtime but I wanted to stay up. Angrily I walked by C.C. as he held out his hand to me and told me that he loved me. I pulled away continuing up the stairs forfeiting my goodnight hug. The next morning I was told that C.C. had been killed in a 'woods accident' by a tree they called the "widow maker". A deep sadness flooded over me with the loss of my dad and the realization that I'd not hugged him and made up our differences.
I played basketball and helped Mamma on our 18-acre farm. My sister had become abusive to Mamma so she was sent to live with an aunt.
When I was 16, Mamma sold the farm. We moved to Eugene, Oregon over my protests. I didn't want to move to a big city but soon was enrolled at Sheldon High School and entered into sports. Even with a new start I became more undisciplined. Pain in my heart over my life losses wouldn't leave.
Two doors away from our home was the home of a pretty brown-haired girl named Becky. I noticed her right away and she seemed interested in me. We watched each other from a distance.
In high school I sought the "greaser" look, tight pants, hair combed straight back '60s style. I was defiantly getting into fights regularly. I graduated from high school and went on to Lane Community College.
The Vietnam war loomed on the horizon and I had drawn a low draft number. I could get drafted at any time and that meant being a foot soldier in the Army. I was doing well in college but decided to join the Coast Guard. Soon I was in California for training.
My service life was comprised of drinking, fighting and running around. I'll never forget Peter Pappas, the only Christian on the base, usually on his bunk reading the Word. We'd talk about the Bible but I still had my own agenda.
Stationed at Subic Bay in the Philippines I was serving in the Mecong Delta area in Vietnam as well. One day under orders we were told to shell the Vietcong before they could fire on our boats, so I fired off a volley that killed 10 men. I'd seen plenty of death, but knowing that I'd taken their lives, even in war, crushed me.
One night I was arrested with 2 counts of assault and battery plus one count of rape. I acknowledged the assault and battery, but I knew the rape count was untrue. As I was denying the rape charge I was being thrown into a civilian jail with murderers and hardened criminals. Our ship was ready to move out and I would be left in a foreign jail indefinitely. Providentially, someone from our ship had seen me taken to jail and at 1:30 AM I found myself being bailed out for $44, and hurried to the ship. After that when we came into port I was confined to the ship to keep me from being thrown back into the Philippine jail.
Toward the end of my stay in the Philippines I noticed I'd tired of wild lifestyle. At 21 I started praying for a brown-haired, blue-eyed virgin to marry.
Home on leave from the base in San Diego it was great to be back with Mamma. Also, I thought a lot about Becky. One day I was mowing Mamma's lawn and Becky came over. She'd told her mother it was only neighborly to welcome me home. We talked and I asked her out. She was a little standoffish on our dates. Her father told her not to date a non-Christian so she finally asked me the big question. "Are you a Christian?" I had to honestly tell her "no". Becky gave me a new Living Letter Bible to take back to San Diego.
One night as I was reading my Bible I zeroed in on John 3:16, "For God so loved the world so much that He gave His only Son so that anyone that believes in Him shall not perish but had eternal life." I wanted this promise to be a reality in my life, I prayed, "God, if you're real, please work in my life." He came into my heart in a fantastic way. Lying on my bunk it felt like my body wasn't even touching the bed. I was cleansed, brand-new!
I called Becky with my news, but she seemed cautious. But, as I spoke with her father he discerned it to be real, Jesus was living in my heart!
Happily, Becky and I were soon married. We were blessed with a baby boy, Chuck, and later a baby girl, Sharlene. Living in Minnesota, we were having a hard time financially. During that period my dark memories returned. Satan had a powerful grip on me and I had an abusive attitude toward my family. I received deliverance from God once more.
My Mom, Vera, lived a hard life after leaving us. She married 10 times searching for fulfillment, later we made our peace.
in 1997 after 28 years of married life with my precious wife, I was faced with another challenge. Our daughter was to marry a Christian man, Travis, and we were caught up in the coming event. After the wedding on January 17, 1998 I finally admitted I had a physical problem. I had ignored my symptoms for 6-months, that of blood loss and weakness. I was diagnosed with colon cancer. Numb with shock I wondered how it could happen to me at the age of 50. Hard reality set in when I started the chemotherapy. At times I felt I couldn't go on, trying to work and being so ill. Happily, I've just had my 6-month checkup and have a clean bill.
An extra bonus is the recent birth of our 1st grandson, Aidan, to our son and his wife, Nicole.
God gives us joy in life we hold to our bosoms and cherish. I have a win/win situation. I am either completely healed by Christ or I will go home to be with Him where there is no "sorrow or pain." How can I lose?
This is a story about my dad and at the end he talks about his struggle with cancer. I was so overcome with emotion that I was crying while I sat in my closet and read the article.
It was the very paragraph that helped me regain my confidence that my dad is with Jesus and completely whole.
Marian wrote this as told by David H.Hall
Where was my Mommy? I missed her hugs. It felt like death. She'd left me off at Granny's, at Riddle, Oregon the week before saying she'd be back by Monday to pick up my sister, Clayetta, age 8, and myself. Each day I thought, "Mommy will be here today." Finally I gave up hope, it was 3 years before I would see her again.
I found out Mamma (Granny) and C.C., my step-grandfather, had adopted us. My name changed from David Larson to David Hall. That's what those bewildering meetings with men called 'lawyers', Mommy and my grandparents were all about. My father came to see us twice saying he wanted to keep up but couldn't afford to do so. He remarried and I didn't see him for many years.
Mamma and C.C. took us to church showing us the love we needed so desperately. I realize it was only by the grace of God they could, in their fifties, take on raising 2 kids. They took us on a trip to the mid-west to show off their new "children". "Mamma" was my mother's mother and I'm sure this 4'11" tiny lady of 80lbs, was heartbroken over the situation.
C.C. insisted both of us should be kept together. I loved riding on the tractor with C.C. and going hunting with him. Life seemed better as I had 2 loving parents now.
One evening, when I was 12, I was told it was bedtime but I wanted to stay up. Angrily I walked by C.C. as he held out his hand to me and told me that he loved me. I pulled away continuing up the stairs forfeiting my goodnight hug. The next morning I was told that C.C. had been killed in a 'woods accident' by a tree they called the "widow maker". A deep sadness flooded over me with the loss of my dad and the realization that I'd not hugged him and made up our differences.
I played basketball and helped Mamma on our 18-acre farm. My sister had become abusive to Mamma so she was sent to live with an aunt.
When I was 16, Mamma sold the farm. We moved to Eugene, Oregon over my protests. I didn't want to move to a big city but soon was enrolled at Sheldon High School and entered into sports. Even with a new start I became more undisciplined. Pain in my heart over my life losses wouldn't leave.
Two doors away from our home was the home of a pretty brown-haired girl named Becky. I noticed her right away and she seemed interested in me. We watched each other from a distance.
In high school I sought the "greaser" look, tight pants, hair combed straight back '60s style. I was defiantly getting into fights regularly. I graduated from high school and went on to Lane Community College.
The Vietnam war loomed on the horizon and I had drawn a low draft number. I could get drafted at any time and that meant being a foot soldier in the Army. I was doing well in college but decided to join the Coast Guard. Soon I was in California for training.
My service life was comprised of drinking, fighting and running around. I'll never forget Peter Pappas, the only Christian on the base, usually on his bunk reading the Word. We'd talk about the Bible but I still had my own agenda.
Stationed at Subic Bay in the Philippines I was serving in the Mecong Delta area in Vietnam as well. One day under orders we were told to shell the Vietcong before they could fire on our boats, so I fired off a volley that killed 10 men. I'd seen plenty of death, but knowing that I'd taken their lives, even in war, crushed me.
One night I was arrested with 2 counts of assault and battery plus one count of rape. I acknowledged the assault and battery, but I knew the rape count was untrue. As I was denying the rape charge I was being thrown into a civilian jail with murderers and hardened criminals. Our ship was ready to move out and I would be left in a foreign jail indefinitely. Providentially, someone from our ship had seen me taken to jail and at 1:30 AM I found myself being bailed out for $44, and hurried to the ship. After that when we came into port I was confined to the ship to keep me from being thrown back into the Philippine jail.
Toward the end of my stay in the Philippines I noticed I'd tired of wild lifestyle. At 21 I started praying for a brown-haired, blue-eyed virgin to marry.
Home on leave from the base in San Diego it was great to be back with Mamma. Also, I thought a lot about Becky. One day I was mowing Mamma's lawn and Becky came over. She'd told her mother it was only neighborly to welcome me home. We talked and I asked her out. She was a little standoffish on our dates. Her father told her not to date a non-Christian so she finally asked me the big question. "Are you a Christian?" I had to honestly tell her "no". Becky gave me a new Living Letter Bible to take back to San Diego.
One night as I was reading my Bible I zeroed in on John 3:16, "For God so loved the world so much that He gave His only Son so that anyone that believes in Him shall not perish but had eternal life." I wanted this promise to be a reality in my life, I prayed, "God, if you're real, please work in my life." He came into my heart in a fantastic way. Lying on my bunk it felt like my body wasn't even touching the bed. I was cleansed, brand-new!
I called Becky with my news, but she seemed cautious. But, as I spoke with her father he discerned it to be real, Jesus was living in my heart!
Happily, Becky and I were soon married. We were blessed with a baby boy, Chuck, and later a baby girl, Sharlene. Living in Minnesota, we were having a hard time financially. During that period my dark memories returned. Satan had a powerful grip on me and I had an abusive attitude toward my family. I received deliverance from God once more.
My Mom, Vera, lived a hard life after leaving us. She married 10 times searching for fulfillment, later we made our peace.
in 1997 after 28 years of married life with my precious wife, I was faced with another challenge. Our daughter was to marry a Christian man, Travis, and we were caught up in the coming event. After the wedding on January 17, 1998 I finally admitted I had a physical problem. I had ignored my symptoms for 6-months, that of blood loss and weakness. I was diagnosed with colon cancer. Numb with shock I wondered how it could happen to me at the age of 50. Hard reality set in when I started the chemotherapy. At times I felt I couldn't go on, trying to work and being so ill. Happily, I've just had my 6-month checkup and have a clean bill.
An extra bonus is the recent birth of our 1st grandson, Aidan, to our son and his wife, Nicole.
God gives us joy in life we hold to our bosoms and cherish. I have a win/win situation. I am either completely healed by Christ or I will go home to be with Him where there is no "sorrow or pain." How can I lose?
1 comment:
I wish I could have sat down with him and talked for a good while about adoption and his Vietnam experience. –Tim
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