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| My youngest son, Mark, and my Dad, John Knight |
Proverbs 17:6
Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.
When I went to Tennessee, I decided since I was close to Indiana and Ohio to go see the rest of my family. I especially wanted to see my Dad.
He'll be 90 years old in July. Because of his age and a few health problems, he had to give up his independence. He went to live with my brother and his wife. I know that had to be quite a change for him. He had lived by himself for a quite a while and he was very independent. He drove, cooked his own meals, did his own grocery shopping, read books, and did about whatever he wanted.
To me he was always of a different era. Where men were men. They didn't show their emotions, there was right and there was wrong. You always kept a job and worked hard and you called anybody that was older Mr. or Mrs.
When your parents start aging, there's a kind of a metamorphosis that starts to take place. We begin trading roles with them. The son becomes the father. The daughter becomes the mother. It's hard changing roles. You want your parents to remain young forever.
And we so often take our family relationships for granted. We look, but we don't see. We listen, but we really don't hear what the other person is saying. We exist, but so often we don't feel.
I love my Dad and still enjoy being with him and talking to him on the phone. He is always encouraging to me and I hope his mind always stays as good as it is now.
I knew this time would come when he could no longer take care of himself.
After I went to visit him, I felt so good and had such peace about him being with my brother and his wife. They are taking such good care of him. In fact, they are probably spoiling him rotten. He gets a lot of attention.
Please pray for my dad and for my brother and his wife and that it will be a smooth adjustment for all of them.
