When I woke up this morning I felt a sense of pride and accomplishment. I also felt a strong sense of my Dad all aorund me. I checked my email this morning and found these to emails from 2 men I admire most, my brother Matt, and Uncle Gary. (hope they don’t mind me sharing) Looks like I wasn’t the only one who thought of Dad during this changing time.
From Matt:
Last night as I sat on my couch deep in the heart of republican texas, I started to smile and remember back to 1983 when dad was in charge of the voting precinctfor the primarys at the mouth of tacket fork. He came home late that night and told me that he had voted for who he thought as being the best man for the job. It was jesse jackson. A week later when the floyd county times came out sure enough jackson had gotten one vote from that precinct. That was a profound moment for me and still is today as I often link that to why most of my good friends a black. I have had three important friend in my life. Murray garvin from the time I was around 4 till I left eastern ky me and murray was good friends. Montu odem, the only black man to come to mcdowell basketball games to watch a friend. Finally rontae bass, a black man that came to eastern ky to help put dad in the ground. Dad would be proud today, but by tomorrow he would be demanding the change. Revel in the day but understand that now we must continue to push for change in the way things are done in this country. Everything is possible and the times they are a changing. 15 years ago there was that one vote last night obama lost floyd county by only around 200 votes. Yes it is a good day even in this deep red state.
From Gary:
To you of my loved ones …
Great day in the morning!
James Rodney, this morning, would have been sleepy, grumpy, would have a headache, his breath would smell bad, and he’d be in a mad rush to get out to work, but …
He’d be a happy man today, and he’d have hope. And yes, Harve would have that big insulated cup of coffee in his hand, already gone cold, but he’d be filled with hope, so proud, and so happy for all of us.
Love you all. Ah, God. Great day in the morning. Gary
