Daddy's Strength
Raymond Floyd Tanner will always be a hero to me. As a father, he had his faults, always busy with work. However, his work ethic has been an inspiration to me.
Daddy was a carpenter before I was born. He took up the trade following a short stint as a farmer on the Sammons farm in Wattsburg. He was always a man of physical strength with muscle built from his daily work but until about 1999, I didn't realize his inner strength.
As a child, I remember him sitting at the kitchen table with his clients going over the "blueprints" he had drawn on restaurant napkins. At the time this poem was written, he was planning his own dream home which he succeeded in building though it took five years. He has bought, remodeled and rented out various homes around Wattsburg and Union City and made them a home for many families.
Then in a single year, one of his rental houses and his restaurant business was destroyed. The restaurant exploded with him only a few feet from the initial blast. The building was split at the seams but he walked away with only a little singed hair. The rental burned down a few months later. It was his pride and joy because he was trying to restore the grandeur of the old house. Yet, even after all this trouble, he remained strong. Not because he is so physically or emotionally strong but because he depended on God.
DADDY'S STRENGTH
My Daddy is a carpenter When a devastating explosion
Having the ability to build, Threatens to divide him at the seams,
Anything that's needed Daddy continues to stand tall
From wood that has been milled. And hold onto his dreams.
He begins with pencil and paper When an unexpected fire
At the kitchen table, Burns his mansion to the ground,
And will sit there dreaming He picks up his hammer
Of a house complete with gable. To being again without a sound.
He never plans things little My Daddy is not stronger
But reaches for the stars, Or greater than any other man;
Planning every detail He knows in whom he trusts
Even garage to house two cars.
My Daddy's magic fingers
With his dream entwined within,
Can turn an old, abandoned house
Into a distinguished mansion.
Daddy was a carpenter before I was born. He took up the trade following a short stint as a farmer on the Sammons farm in Wattsburg. He was always a man of physical strength with muscle built from his daily work but until about 1999, I didn't realize his inner strength.
As a child, I remember him sitting at the kitchen table with his clients going over the "blueprints" he had drawn on restaurant napkins. At the time this poem was written, he was planning his own dream home which he succeeded in building though it took five years. He has bought, remodeled and rented out various homes around Wattsburg and Union City and made them a home for many families.
Then in a single year, one of his rental houses and his restaurant business was destroyed. The restaurant exploded with him only a few feet from the initial blast. The building was split at the seams but he walked away with only a little singed hair. The rental burned down a few months later. It was his pride and joy because he was trying to restore the grandeur of the old house. Yet, even after all this trouble, he remained strong. Not because he is so physically or emotionally strong but because he depended on God.
DADDY'S STRENGTH
My Daddy is a carpenter When a devastating explosion
Having the ability to build, Threatens to divide him at the seams,
Anything that's needed Daddy continues to stand tall
From wood that has been milled. And hold onto his dreams.
He begins with pencil and paper When an unexpected fire
At the kitchen table, Burns his mansion to the ground,
And will sit there dreaming He picks up his hammer
Of a house complete with gable. To being again without a sound.
He never plans things little My Daddy is not stronger
But reaches for the stars, Or greater than any other man;
Planning every detail He knows in whom he trusts
Even garage to house two cars.
My Daddy's magic fingers
With his dream entwined within,
Can turn an old, abandoned house
Into a distinguished mansion.