Remembering Dad!

Loyd Ferrell Sr., around 1965. Handsome young fella, isn't he? I carried this pic in my wallet for a number of years when I was also a LOT younger! It's STILL one of my favorite images of my Pops.

 Once again, here at the 'ol Bloggy-thingy-thang, it's time to step away from my usual GEEK-out related subject matter, and get more serious and thoughtful. This time around, it's to give out honor, respect, and appreciation... for Reverend Loyd Ferrell Sr. Otherwise known as my Dad! 

It's been just over a month now, since the passing of my beloved Pops. Yet, in some ways, as my sister Kathy and I've often talked about these past few weeks-- it STILL feels like he JUST left us. 

He had been suffering from a number of illnesses, ailments, and discomforts-- and had also been in and out of hospitals and other medical facilities for QUITE some time. So-- while his quickly declining condition near the end of his life, wasn't too surprising for those of us close to him-- it was STILL rough, witnessing this once tough, EVER-resilient, EVER-determined guy-- become more and more fragile and even helpless!

But--- that's NOT what I want to focus on here in this post! I want to just share some thoughts about this guy who helped bring my sisters and I into this world. He truly was a one of a kind father, and provided MOST of the positive influences, that shaped me into the man I am today! I also wanted to share some of my favorite images of him, including some SPECIAL items he gave to me over the years, and a couple of REALLY special memories of him too.

The first couple of pics I want to share, REALLY bring into focus how YOUNG and 'fresh-faced' my parents were, whenever they jumped in and started raising a family (as well as when Pops started preaching!)!--

Obviously, it's around 1965-- Since the Loydster's the chubby little guy my Dad's holding, and I'm apparently about a year old. Dad was all of 21 when this pic was snapped! Boy, were we a couple of 'fair-haired' YOUNG boys or WHAT?

The next image, like I was saying above-- REALLY is more evidence of what 'young pups' my folks were! AND-- there's an extremely NIFTY bit of 'family trivia', concerning an important item in the pic too!--

Pops when he first started preaching. That's my Mom's handwriting, at the top and bottom. She really was a 'proud preacher's wife'! The heavy crease along the right side, is from where Mom kept this pic in a small frame for a good chunk of time.

Now-- for that COOL little bit of 'Ferrell-fam' trivia I was rattling away about above! MANY years ago, I wanna say I wasn't even in my early 20s yet-- Mom and Dad gave me one of Dad's 'old preaching bibles'. 

I've kept it all through the years, and yet it NEVER dawned on me-- that it's the SAME bible my Dad's holding onto SO tightly in the pic above! (And --I've also looked at that image MANY times, over the years!) It wasn't until after Pops passed last month, and I looked more closely at the image-- that I realized it! It truly is now one of my MOST priceless / treasured possessions!--

That's RIGHT! A family treasure, that had been 'hiding in plain sight' right here WITH me all these years! Besides some hand-written notes along side some scriptures, Dad had scratched here & there-- another thing that makes this bible SO priceless, is the addition of 'family tree' items that my Mom had also filled-out, many, many moons ago! This old, battered bible is INDEED a 'family heirloom'!

The pic-collage below is a 're-run' of the one I put up in the post honoring / memorializing Mom, back in 2018. I still feel like it pretty much sums up how CLOSE, warm and loving my parents were, over the years. It also shows what a power-house 'ministry-team' they were-- for MANY years! (The bottom two pics were taken nearly a couple of decades apart-- and they were STILL 'preachin', teachin', singin', and just generally 'doing the Lord's work'!)--

The first of the two 'ministry-pics' there at the bottom, (taken around 1981 or so!) remind me of the times when I would be pestering pops to help me buy a car. 'Don't get the cart in front of the horse, son', he'd tell me, 'you need to FIRST get a job, save your money, and THEN buy your first car yourself!-- You'll treasure it, and take better care of it, if you PAY for it yourself!' At the time, I thought he was just being a cranky 'old-timer' on me! But, in hindsight-- I've learned he was EXACTLY right!

Next, another favorite image of my Pops and I together. This time, when I graduated high school.----

The evening of June 10th, 1983. Dad and I smiling and looking a little cheesy! During my senior year, Pops would occasionally just take me for either long drives around the area, or we'd go up to a spot up on a bluff above the town, called 'lookout point'-- just so we could talk, sometimes have a soda-pop together, and hang-out.
One of those times, I was struggling a little-- trying to figure-out just WHAT to DO with my life, what kind of job / career I would have, where I wanted to settle-down and live, etc! (Typical high-schooler worries, of course! But-- to me, they were a BIG deal!)
I shared all of this with Pops, as we sat in the car there at 'Lookout point'. 'Son', he told me, 'you need to just concentrate on making a decent living, WHEREVER you are. Because, wherever you can make a living-- THAT is the place you can call HOME.' Now THAT is honest, down-to-earth, GOOD advice!

For the next of my fave pics, we move forward in time QUITE a bit! To 2020 in fact! This was during the time Pops came and stayed with us for a few weeks, a couple of years after Mom passed.----

Three generations of 'Ferrell guys'!-- Loyd, Loyd Jr, and Mr. Wade! It was a nice, sunny day out-- and we were having an 'early Thanksgiving' with the Pops while he stayed with us. Taking advantage of the nice day, the wifey snapped off a few pics of us fellas just hanging out in the yard.
The reason this is one of my favorite later pics of Pops, is that BIG, slightly GOOFY grin on his face! You can tell he's having a genuinely GOOD time! Mom's passing REALLY knocked a CHUNK out of him, and it was SO good to see him smiling, laughing, and enjoying himself, even just a little!

After Pop's passing, and before Deb, the kids and I all went down to Texas, (we had to go down there to wrap-up some of his 'final affairs' stuff, with my sister and her family) my daughter Shelby put together a BEAUTIFUL eulogy for him! My sis, Kathy-- is sharing it on her Face Book page, but I also wanted to share it here with you, my TEENY-TINY group of faithful readers.---

I can't think of ANY way to make my daughter's eulogy for her Grandpa more BEAUTIFUL than it is! Thank you, SO much-- daughter-o-mine!

  And now-- a couple of those 'special items' I mentioned above, that my Dad passed along to me over the years! Of course, much like Pops-- they relate to the 'practical' and the 'down to earth'!---           

Dad gave the 'Old Timer' pocket knife to me, quite a few years back. It was actually one he'd carried and used, for AGES! 'NEVER leave home without a good, trusty pocket knife on you son', he always taught me, 'you never know when it might come in handy!' Sound, practical advice from a practical-thinking guy!
The old pipe-wrench, again-- given to me by Pops a number of years ago-- actually originally belonged to Grandpa Ferrell! So, this thing is probably close to 90 years old! AND-- I still use it! Another way not ONLY Dad... but HIS Dad, passed something along that was practical and USEFUL to me! That's why they're BOTH such VALUABLE, yet sentimental-- items to me!

                               

Before I wrap-up this post, I'll share just one more of my favorite images of my Dad. At the moment, in fact... it's probably my MOST favorite of ALL! I'll try to explain below!---

A very young Loyd Ferrell, circa 1959-- when he was a mere 17 years old! That's his first car, a 1950 Studebaker-- he's leaning on.

The above pic of my then-teenaged dad, is--much like the 'early-teens' pic of my Mom, (when she was around 14 years old) a LONG-time favorite of mine. To refresh your memory-- here's the one of Mom! (Which I shared here on the blog in 2018)---

a VERY young Mary Louise, around age 14!

Now, as I was saying-- these two photos are probably the MOST priceless that I have, of BOTH of my parents. Because-- they're 'frozen moments' in time. ALL photos are really that, I know-- but these are SPECIAL 'frozen moments'! They capture that special, early time in my parent's lives! A time when a young guy and gal in the San Juaquin Valley of central California, had their WHOLE lives stretched-out in front of them. 

In another couple of years, young Loyd would meet up with that dark-eyed, dark-haired young lady-- and the two of them would marry, raise a boy and two girls, and share 55 years together! 

But in the above 'frozen moment'... my Dad is still just that 17-year-old kid-- who's crooked smile, easy-laugh (can't you almost hear a little snicker coming from him in that picture?), would stay with him and be the same... for MOST of his 82 years on this earth. Mom's smile (AND unique laugh!) would also have that same 'staying power' as well!

Now, BOTH of my parents have left us-- and there is a DEEP sorrow in both of my sisters' hearts, and mine as well--as we struggle with that new reality. We can take a GREAT deal of comfort in knowing TWO things though. The first, of course-- is that they're now reunited and together for eternity, and they are NO DOUBT happy (with each other AND with their Lord and Savior!). The second, well that also has to do with the young folks in those photos, taken ALL those years ago. 

Those two young people grew, married, and became the folks who left us, the 'Ferrell kids'-- a legacy of warmth, love, and LOTS and LOTS of genuine laughter. A legacy of creativity (Mom), practicality (Dad), and good 'ol down-to-earth 'common sense' (BOTH Mom and Dad!)! There's no finer or 'better' legacy than THAT! I truly hope I can leave a similar 'inheritance' for my own children (and eventually grandchildren!), some day!

I love and miss you BOTH, Mom and Dad! But someday we'll ALL be together again-- and the warmth, the love, and the laughter will truly last FOREVER! This isn't a permanent 'goodbye', it's just a 'so long, for now'! 

(This post is also dedicated to BOTH of my beautiful sisters, Kathy & Lisa-- BIG 'Loydster-hugs' and warm thoughts continue to go out to you guys! Love you two-- then, now, and ALWAYS!)