KEEPING IT REAL
Father Time By Scott Kenworthy
F
or a moment time has stood still. Eerily still. As I write this article, our community still finds itself under quarantine due to the Covid-19 pandemic. If you’re like me, over the past several weeks, you’ve often asked, “What day is it?” Or maybe, “How important is it that I shower?” Perhaps even, “Could this be used as toilet paper?” Days have felt like weeks and weeks like months. With Father’s Day approaching, I have been reflecting upon time and what the passage of time means for our most fundamental relationships. I haven’t seen my father since February. He lives three hours north of Owensboro, so apart from
12 OWENSBORO PARENT
. June // July 2020
FaceTime we haven’t been able to get together. A day will come when I won’t be able to see or talk to him any longer. When it does, all I’ll have are the memories I carry with me and the values he left behind. Though we hope to have many more years with him and my mom, my job requires me to sit with many families who wait too long to reflect on such matters. So, in honor of fathers, and out of respect for time, let us consider what we have received from our dads and what we are passing down to our children. My father serves as a model of consistency. He has worked with the same company since graduating from Butler University in 1975. That’s 45 years. Though he does
exceptional work, I’ll most remember what he has offered our family. If my brother and I were competing, he was there. If we needed help with our homework, he was willing. A ride to practice, he drove and even let us choose the music. I remember one week in college when I was the guest preacher for a church of ten people (10!) in rural Tennessee. He and Mom showed up thirty minutes before the service began. I can’t think of a significant event in my life he has missed. Dad has no ego. He has his own talents and interests but, as we grew up, his stuff never came before our stuff. When he left for work in the morning, he would scrape the ice of my windshield or move my car into
