Still, I wonder.

I wonder what my Dad would be like if he was still living. He died when I was just 5 years old. I have only a few memories of him, mostly happy times, like fishing or beating him in a foot race (I really did think I had beat him fair and square.) or driving the car while sitting in his lap.

My dad, James Kenneth Brasfield, USAF,
sometime before 1957.

My dad was only 35 years old when he died. He was a veteran of the Korean War (aka Korean Conflict) having served in the US Air Force with rank of Airman Second Class. I understand that is equal to E-3 rank, which is same as mine in the Army. (I was Private First Class). My aunts told me he was never the same after the war. I believe he may have suffered from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

He attempted to take his life on multiple occasions before succeeding on November 5, 1973. My mother was pregnant at the time with my baby brother, Jeff. My dad had been hospitalized for treatment associated with his suicidal attempts, making some ceramic items that I recall in the attic of my childhood home.

He is buried in Little Rock National Cemetery, Section 16, Site 506, in Little Rock, Arkansas. I remember the funeral, and the twenty-one gun salute at the grave side service.

My mom remarried when I was thirteen years old, to O'Neal Hardy from Memphis. I was uncertain how my life would change as we moved from N Little Rock, Ar. to Memphis TN a week after they married. I couldn't bring myself to call him "Dad", so I called him "Pop". He's a good man and taught me many things. I am thankful for him.

That move to Memphis seriously rocked my world, set me on a path that lead to where I am today. From Memphis, I came to Knoxville where I met Jilly. I wouldn't change a thing.

Today, I called Pop on the phone to wish him a happy Father's Day.

Still, I wonder...

Happy Father's Day 2015,
Dadofmykids

Thanksgiving, Elvis Style

Hello Memphis. The Brasfield Nation has invaded your city. We have all our kids together including our daughter in law and grandson. We are quite a force.

We drove most all day Wednesday then went out to eat with some of my kin. Asher and Levi asked about a million questions while I played an audio book by Cal Ripkin Jr. It all made the drive easier.

Today is thanksgiving and we went to my moms house. We got to see more family there including one of my brothers from Arkansas. We ate too much, as always. Now the leftovers are on the stove.

I took the youngsters down the street to the school playground and took some pictures. It's great to see little cousins getting acquainted and playing together. When we got back it was time for the annual exchange of Christmas tree ornaments. I got my first Grandpa ornament.

I have so much to be thankful for:

• I am thankful for God's grace and mercy. Grace is getting what I don't deserve. Mercy is not getting what I actually deserve.
• I am thankful for my amazingly talented, uniquely passionate, selflessly compassionate, terrifically beautiful and great smelling wife. Seriously.
• I am thankful for my children and my grandson. They are gifts from God. My quiver is full.
• I am thankful for all my friends and business associates. So many of you have come to my rescue in times of sorrow or need.
• I could go on and on. I am truly blessed.

We will be in Memphis for a few days to enjoy our family. Maybe I'll see some of y'all while we are here. Others I will see back in Knoxville or on the other side.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Dadofmykids

Day 36 of #40Days - Highly Favored.

As I type these words, Tucker and Riley are watching our home video from Christmas 2004.  They are glued to the screen, laughing and commenting how little they were and how high pitched their voices were.  As I listen and see their reactions, it makes me happy that we have it.

I had a new camera at the time and enjoyed playing around with it.  As a result, I put together this way-too-long video.  Today, I serve it up as entry number 36.  A special prize goes to anyone who actually watches the whole thing.

The enormous amount of presents and toys may have been a sign of the turbulent times we were having.  Daniel was attending private school in Memphis that year.  Jill was faithful to visit him there and made it possible for him to have Christmas at home in spite of the bad weather conditions.  As I look back on this video, I feel that we may have been trying to somehow make it up to the kids.  We have scaled back since then.

I am thankful that we found so much joy anyway.  It was only by the grace of God.

Have I told you lately what an amazingly awesome wife I have?  She is able to not only care for our kids with so much love, but she does it often in face of the enemy, doing spiritual battle with one hand and teaching home-schoolers with the other.  Then she finds time to treat me like a king and make me feel like I am the one who hung the moon and stars.

He who finds a wife finds a good thing

and obtains favor from the LORD.

Proverbs 18:22

Thanks for tuning in.

God bless,
Dadofmykids

This is post # 36 of Forty Days.  Learn more here.

Day 31 of #40Days - Guest Post by Jilly.

I am excited to present a guest post by my beautiful wife, Jill:

It was Christmas Day 2009, and the kids had just finished opening their gifts when Andy looked at me and said, “I don't have your present today, we have to drive to Nashville tomorrow to get it.”

I thought that was odd, but I didn't give it much thought. I assumed it was tickets to a show or dinner somewhere nice. In all honesty, I didn't care. Christmas 2009 was the worst Christmas of my life. Just one month earlier, I had laid in my daddy's hospital bed with him and watched him die. All I really wanted was for the whole holiday to just be over.

Steven and Jill.

Elvis, I mean Steven, at Sun Studios, Memphis TN.

The next day arrived and we got the kids ready and loaded up in Heapy (our huge, ugly, BROWN fifteen passenger van) and off we went. I will admit, my attitude was bad. WHY did we have to keep celebrating when I was just ready for it to be over (pity parties were a daily occurrence for a while)?

As we rolled on down the road, I spent time checking my social networking sites. I noticed that my “little brother” was very quiet and that was REALLY odd. Side note: I am an only child, but I have a few friends that I claim as my siblings. Steven, an online friend from Seattle, is the one I had chosen to be the little brother I always wanted, but never had.

Steven had shown great concern for Dad when he was sick, and has shown genuine compassion and love for us when Dad died. Unbeknownst to me, he and Andy had been plotting and planning a huge surprise for me.

As we got closer to Nashville, Steven's quietness on Facebook and Twitter began to make me wonder if we were going to Nashville to pick him up at the airport. I finally asked Andy, and he confirmed that we were. He began to tell me how this came to be. He said that Steven had been concerned about me after Dad's death and had decided to make a surprise trip to visit me hoping it would lift my spirits. I. WAS. FLOORED.! My first thoughts were how sweet it was for someone to do this for ME. I honestly couldn't remember if I had ever had anyone go to such lengths to just be able to love on me and minister to me. My next thought was OMG! I'd never met Steven in person; we had only spoken on the phone a time or two, and the rest of our communication had been online. Would it be weird? Would it be a week filled with awkward silence? All of a sudden, I became VERY nervous!

After a couple of delays, Steven's flight finally arrived. I was EXTREMELY excited and a little nervous as we watched and waited for him. Finally, there he was.......wearing his UT orange. I can honestly say there wasn't a single second of awkwardness. It was truly like we had known each other all of our lives!

We began talking non-stop almost immediately and it didn't seem like we stopped for nearly a week. We spent the week laughing, touring Memphis (Steven does a heck of an Elvis impersonation) and talking. It was a week without sadness and one that I will never forget.

Thank you, Steven, for giving so much of yourself to come all this way to support and love on me. I made memories that week that I will cherish for the rest of my life! I love you and I'm incredibly thankful that you're my little brother.

Proverbs 17:17 “A friend loves at all times.......”

God bless,
Momofmykids

This is post # 31 of Forty Days.  Learn more here.

Day 30 of #40Days - Snatched

Today's post is a video blog, or vlog.

No animals were harmed in the making of this video.

A great big THANK YOU to Ted Stolpe for editing.

God Bless,
Dadofmykids

This is post # 30 of Forty Days.  Learn more here.

Beale Street (and some other stuff) on my mind.

Friday night we're gonna be walking with our feet ten feet off of Beale. Jill, Mollie and I plan to "do" Beale Street together. We are excited. But first, I have to actually GO to Memphis. Jill and Mollie are already there with Conner, Tucker, Riley and Tilley.

They went over on Sunday. I stayed behind with Papaw, Sean, Asher, KK and Levi. Asher, KK and Levi (AKL) will be out on fall break Thursday and Friday. So we're gonna go over and join the fun.

I haven't been to Memphis in a few years. My mom has been so patient. She lives there.

That's Friday. This is Wednesday. Yesterday...well that's another story.

Yesterday, Asher called me from school. He was sick. I had forgotten to give him his alergy meds and so he was breaking out. I couldn't get ahold of Sean to either take him his meds or to pick him up. So I went to get him. However, I did get Sean before I got there. He went to get Asher for me. I was not happy.

I took Papaw to the Dr. in the afternoon. He's been getting sick for some time. It finally got bad enough that he would agree to see his doctor. It took about one minute for the Dr. to determine that Papaw was sick enough to go to the hospital. I took him to the emergency room. He was admitted with pneumonia.

Then Linda called and said that Nettie had another baby.

I was NOT expecting that.

This means six of our kids have yet another biological sibling. It does NOT mean we are getting another child. However, it IS possible that we could be asked to take the baby. We just don't know what's going to happen.

We are praying that we will not have to make a decision about taking the baby. The main thing is for the child to go to a loving and capable family. I know we could love and care for a child, but we have a pretty full plate already. I don't know if I could say "No" to a baby. So I am praying that we won't have to face that decision.

Please pray with me. Pray for the baby. Pray that whatever happens will be best for both the baby and it's siblings in my home.

How's that for one day?

Memphis, here I come!

God Bless,
Dadofmykids