My Father, the Greatest Man I Ever Knew

by Geoffrey Campbell
(Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States of America)

My Father, William Elmer Jenkin was worthy of the leather that girded his feet, he became my Father when I was six. He was the hardest working man I ever met, he would work year after year double shifts to support all of his children for when he married Mom, he had us too. I never heard him raise his voice against Mother, he never hit us, but we respected him and he commanded us to respect Mother. As a young child, when Mother was hurting, I saw him cry, and immediately I loved him. He taught us to not use uncouth words, nor to talk back to Mom and Dad, and he did it in such a way that he never had to use force. He taught us as children to do our part, we had chores, and he said, "No television during the day" for he wanted us to learn responsibility. He loved Mom so much, it was constantly seen by his devotion, though he worked many times a sixteen hour day, he would wash her dishes, clean the floors, and help Mother in every way. He was a good example in all things, amazingly, even in his late seventies he was always working. I thank God that He gave us children the best of the best for a Father. As Dad was suffering greatly from bone cancer, he never complained, and my last sentence to my step-Father was, "Dad, I love you, I have always loved you! (I could not hold back my tears) Dad, hold onto Jesus, I will meet you in heaven, and we will be together forever!" So I will try to be like my precious Father, a man who served bravely in W.W Two, a man who constantly thought of others before himself, and if I be faithful to God, one blessed day, I will see my Father again. When my first Dad died, God gave me a most wonderful Step-Father, as Mom once said when we lived in Daleville PA, "God gave me two princes." I remember me and my sister praying for God to give us a Father, and He truly did, He truly, truly did. God truly answers prayer. I miss you Dad, oh how I miss you!