Grover Redding

Here is an early picture of my father...note the 'old' car in the background!

And another one...have no idea of the date...people didn't label/date pics back then...and I need to tackle my own boxes of photos so that mistake doesn't keep repeating..........
But this one I do know about....
This one is in our old kitchen in Albany, GA....note the knee next to the table. His R arm is resting on the pull-down ironing board, that with five kids, pretty much stayed in the down position. There was no such thing as wrinkle free back in those days.

Daddy never liked having his picture taken, so this one was always very special to me, as it caught him in one of his relaxed poses. It was taken about 1964, the year before he killed himself, just shy of 47, and is probably one of the last pictures of him.

Unfortunately, Daddy was an alcoholic, an unknown term (at least to me) back in the '60s. It created a Jekyl/Hyde disposition in this man, as nasty addiction often does, and certainly wrecked our lives in many ways. Certainly it *shaped* our lives as well, with all five kids growing up to have a healthy respect for what alcohol can do. We have all gone through phases of anger at him for what he has missed out on--weddings, grandchildren, etc. But none of us knows the personal agony he must have suffered, and for that we are blessed. And for giving us life, and certainly some good genes thrown in the mix, we are grateful. And it is all OK.

Today would have been Daddy's 90th birthday. May you rest in peace, Daddy.