September 15th...

You would think after all these years it would be just another day; but it isn't.  It is the day that we celebrated my dad's birthday as a family. Wow! He would have been 86 this year.  The last birthdays we celebrated together were his 52nd birthday and my 16th.  So much has happened since then...both personally and in the world.

In 1978 we had only two friends who had microwaves.  Hardly anybody we knew had cable except the same two families. My dad was still enthralled with cassette players! The space shuttle was just a dream that hadn't launched yet, and compact cars were just coming into play.

Personally, there was so much more to know about this man I called "Daddy". I so wish I had gotten past the teenage years, and settled down enough to want know more about his life.  He was always eager to share, but as a gentleman, he waited for me to ask. Since I was blessed with 3 sons, I have so many questions for him, like; "what was it like for you at 15, or 18 or 21?", or "How was it for you just starting your life with Mama?" Or, "Are all of us Davis's this way?", "When did you fall in love with Jesus the way that you did ?"or a million other things.  I wish we could have had birthdays for him where all of the grandchildren and great grandchildren ( and great, great grandchildren now) could descend on him and shower him with kisses and hugs. He could tell them the age old stories of Pa Ross and the Yellow Fever plague, Princess Tocumtah and about Indians and Speckled Puppies and how to catch rain minnows! A day to see bits of yourself in all of your descendants! Your quiver of arrows would be so full!

Daddy, I know that Birthday Parties don't matter much when you are in the presence of the King, but they do mark something special down here.  They are a day, no matter how old you are, and no matter which side of heaven you are on, a day for those of us here to stop, and to remember, and to thank our Creator for taking the time to create and craft in His loving hands, the beautiful one that is you.  I love you!

Happy Birthday, Chief
From Your Indian Princess!