Gone But Not Forgotten

To Read or To Listen?

👉Do you prefer to read the story or watch it? You're in luck:)

👉You can watch it HERE, or read below👇

"Hey Dad, will you stop at the King Burger Ranch when you head into town later today?"

"Maybe."

"You will be home to watch the baseball game tonight, right?"

"I might, I might not."

That was the last time I ever talked to my dad.

He had been telling us for the last six months that he was running out of money. I used to tell him that if I could get a million dollars, that I would give it all to him.

From what Mom says, it’s really hard when you're a dad and you don't have enough money to take care of your family.

Mom said she used to tell him to go to the doctor to tell someone that he was feeling sad. But he used to tell her that he ain't ever gonna see no Funny Farm Doctor.

The Funny Farm Doctor sounds more fun than my doctor. He just hits my knee with a hammer when I go see him, and asks me if that hurts.

It would be dumb not to tell a doctor the truth. Of course hitting me on the knee with a hammer hurts.

A week went by, slower than it does in the summer and it rained every stinkin' day. Mom spent most of the mornings and nights with our dog, Lucky, looking out of the window for Dad to come back. I began wondering if I was going to have to take Mom to the Funny Farm Doctor.

Dad never came back. The good news was his funeral wasn't as bad as I expected. Most of the people just told stories about all the times that Dad made them laugh.

Dad's bestest friend even wrote a funny poem. I didn't understand much of it, but  everyone laughed when the man said, "Oh Richard." And he said, ‘Oh Richard’ nearly forty  times before I stopped counting.

After the priest said some prayers, Mom told a story about the first time she met Dad. They were playing a game of tag out in the fields, or something. That's when the story got all mushy, and Dad gave Mom a big yucky kiss.

One of Dad's lady friends at the funeral came up with a cooky idea. She said, ”How about we all head out to Richard's field, and play a game of tag?”

It turned out her idea wasn't cooky after all. It was the greatest thing ever. All the grownups and kids in Sayersville ran and ran, and ran some more, tagging everyone they could. Oh man, I got tagged 472 times - then I stopped counting again.

When it got dark we all used a knife to carve our names into the oak tree with a message that said, "Gone But Not Forgotten, Richard. "

I had the coolest dad ever, even if he did run away, just because he ran out of his money.

    The End

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3 TTT's (Things To Think on)

1. ) The original Inspiration for this story came from a third grade girl named Anna that I taught this last year. She was one of the most interesting students I ever taught in Taiwan.  Some days, she could hold an English conversation with me almost as if English was her first language. Other days, she could barely answer,  "How are you?" On one particular day I asked her what would you do if I gave you a million dollars.  In one of the nicest.things I ever heard someone say, she said, "I would give it all to my dad because he always tells us he is running out of his money. "

2. ) Do you know how many children worldwide are in foster care? An organization called Kidsave  estimated that 8 million kids worldwide currently have basically been abandoned?

3.) If you want to help Kidsave to work towards achieving their mission of ending childhood suffering,  you can donate HERE