Date: 6/13/2007
<br>Author: Devin Pickard
<br>Title: June 4, 2007
<br><br>They say that you are as young as you feel you are in your mind.  If that is the case, then right now (a summer Monday night around 9:30 pm) I guess I am around 13 years old, which would make Bart be around 10 (I know he looks older than me, but its true, I am 3 years older).  That in turn would mean that we are living at 110 Oak Street just up the hill from the Public Library.  My room is at the top of the stairs and Bart’s is at the top of the stairs to the right.  It would also mean that our days are full of swimming and our nights full of baseball.  No real responsibilities.  No real problems.  Plenty to eat.  Plenty of clothes to wear.  Pretty much, plenty of everything.  Not a worry in the world.  Not a care in sight.  Boy…we had it made.  <br><br>At that same time, it would be the year 1982.  Ronald Reagan was president.  The Falklands War began.  Cal Ripkin Jr. started the first of 2632 consecutive games.  Everybody had a Rubiks Cube.  Michael Jackson’s album “Thriller” was the must have tunes and Times Magazine’s “Man of the Year” was a non-human……it was a computer.  In 1982, our parents, Tommy and Debbie Pickard, would have been 34 years old; 3 years younger than I am right now.  When I say that Bart and I had it made, I don’t say it lightly.  There may have been folks who had bigger houses and better toys, but I can assure you that no one could have found two boys who were more loved and cared for than the ones who grew up at 110 Oak.  <br><br>Home was a wonderful place.  For Bart and me, it was a place of safety, peace and calm….of course except for that time momma had to come home from work in the middle of the day because our baby sitter Stacia (Atkinson Anglin) called her and said she couldn’t control us (Bart).  Suffice it to say at our house there was no such thing as “time out” and also suffice it to say that momma didn’t have to come home from work in the middle of the day ever again.  Momma worked at the Health Department 8-4:30 and at home the rest of the time.  She made holidays grand, birthdays special, and Sundays sacred.  She was, and is, truly a woman like you read about in Proverbs 31.  I know all of you reading this think the same thing about your moms, but ours is the greatest in the world.<br><br>As I write, tomorrow, Tuesday June 12, daddy will be having knee surgery for the umpteenth time.  I am satisfied that one of the reasons for dad’s many surgeries is because he stood on concrete sometimes 12-15 hours a day, sometimes 6-7 days a week.  I know the main reason he did that was for his two boys.  He wanted us to have everything we needed and even some of the things we wanted.  He gave us a wonderful example of what a father ought to be.  When he did get home at his usual time of around 3:30 in the afternoon, he would begin doing laundry, vacuuming floors, and getting supper started.  Bart and I also now try to do those same things, but should get no credit for it….the credit is Tommy’s.  The greatest gift daddy ever gave us besides being a Christian dad was the fact that we knew he loved momma.  He would often, and still does, leave her notes when he left the house that would tell where he was going and sign it with “I love you” and lots of xxxx’s and oooo’s at the end.<br><br>The prodigal son in Luke 15 developed a greater understanding of how good God is by how good his own dad was.  Tommy Pickard showed his sons unwaivering encouragement, unending support, unlimited forgiveness and unconditional love.  Bart and I know we serve a loving God.  Guess where we figured that one out?  Happy Fathers Day to all you dads.  Happy Fathers day to you Poppie, your two boys love you.<br><center>Go the extra mile - Devin</center><br><br>