An Unsettled Mind

Yesterday and today I have thought about various topics for the blog. My mind has skittered from one thing to another. Here's just a sample of places my mind has gone:

Communion in church led to thinking about crucifixion which led to thoughts of why societies throughout history have chosen the most painful, gruesome methods imaginable for the execution of criminals or dissidents.

The miracle of the cottonwood seed.

The difference between personality and character.

A TV show I watched last night and the books it is based on.

Our North Carolina Sheriff ancestor.

In the end I just couldn't pull it together for any of these subjects. I may come back to some on other days. For today, I'm just going to share a favorite photo that is on my mind because I've been sorting through old photos trying to get them organized chronologically.

Red McLaughlin, home from the army January 1946, and his three daughters: Terry, Michelle,
and Grace. We were so happy to have him home after his stint in the Philippines at the end of WWII.

 

 

 

Daddy's Love

Terry, the first baby. 

Today I want to give equal time to our father. When I look at the photos of Daddy and his children, I marvel that he was so obviously tender and loving in his feelings for the six children my parents eventually had.

 Most of us learn parenting by the way our parents raise us. Daddy did not have much of an example in that. His mother died when he was not quite two years old. His father went here and there, finding work where he could. He drove freight wagons, cowboyed, broke horses, picked cotton, and farmed. Sometimes he had his two children with him, and sometimes he left them with relatives. Some of those relative weren't so very happy to have them. Two of my dad's aunts by marriage were the closest thing he ever had for a mother.

Daddy wrote about his father's and his Uncle John's child rearing techniques: "They treated horses and kids alike. Treated them good when they did what they wanted and knocked hell out of them when they didn't. I've been the opposite--six kids and I've never hit one of them."

Two daughters--Terry and Grace

Another daughter! This one is me.

Sometimes we learn to do the opposite of what was done to us!

Next it was twin daughters--
Kathryn and Kathleen

Number Six--a son! Hugh.

Whatever struggles Daddy may have had in his life, there is no question he loved his children, he worked hard, and he did the best he could for all of us. These photos, I believe, show some of the way he felt about us.