In November 2018, the band Mumford and Sons released their album "Delta." Some Saturday morning that month, I had all four kids in the back of the van, headed South on that stretch of highway where both the 215 and 60 are one when I first heard the song, Beloved. The lyrics so deeply moved me that I had to pull over to wipe my tears.
Earlier that year, I stood frozen and watched my dad incoherent and laid out on a stretcher in between the ambulance and the ER doors at Riverside Community Hospital before being rushed away to multiple rounds of brain surgery. The depth of fear and love from those memories came flooding back while I was on the side of the road when, out of nowhere, I scratched these words on the back of an envelope:
Most men stand on the shoulders of giants I sat up there on one His hands lock around my ankles Mine rest against his cheeks Up here I see what strength is What love needs to believe I'm on my own two feet now It's so much harder here to see
Relationships with dads can get complicated. As a father myself now, I am intimate with just how easy it is to do this work poorly. I am incredibly fortunate to have had such a great dad. I'm so glad I committed to pressing deep into an authentic and meaningful relationship with him before he passed.
With a spirit of gratitude, I encourage you today, no matter the status of your family relationships, to take a risk in communicating your love to someone who wants, maybe even needs, to hear about it.
In part three of a four-part series on the pervasive issues of domestic violence, Lindsey German shares her harrowing experience to bring hope to those experiencing similar circumstances.
In part three of a four-part series on the pervasive issues of domestic violence, Lindsey German shares her harrowing experience to bring hope to those experiencing similar circumstances.
In part two of a four-part series on the pervasive issues of domestic violence, Lindsey German shares her harrowing experience to bring hope to those experiencing similar circumstances.
In part one of a four-part series on the pervasive issues of domestic violence, Lindsey German shares her harrowing experience to bring hope to those experiencing similar circumstances.
