Happy Birthday, Dad

Psalm 119:72 NIV Your instructions are more valuable to me than millions in gold and silver.

Today is my Dad's birthday, but he isn't with us any longer to celebrate. I still miss him. He became my Dad when I was seven years old. He was bigger than life to me. He touched the lives of many people over the years. His home was opened to many in need, and his hand always reached out to help his extended family with a loving touch, whether a kind word, or the last dollar in his wallet. He touched lives of those he never met.

Dad never knew a stranger and he enjoyed every day to the fullest. One of his biggest passions was fishing. How I loved spending summer days on the river bank with him. He taught me to bait my own hook and to take a fish off the line...even those horned cat fish. My proudest fishing moment was the day I caught the biggest fish, and he was proud, too. He boasted to everyone about the "catch" his daughter made.

Happy birthday, Dad, until we meet again...

Raymond A. Butler, November 19, 1918 - January 2, 2005