Happy Fathers Day

Today is the day that we have set aside to honor fathers. I have to say this is not a day that I usually celebrate. When I was three months old my father Edward Forman Dollar left. He ran away and married another woman while still married to my mom. This earned him an all expense paid trip to Huntsville for bigamy. For those of you who are not familiar with this term it is being married to two people at one time and against the law in the state of TX. Other states have different laws but that is a whole other blog post for later. When he served his time and was released on parole he jumped parole and ran away again. This time I am not sure how long it was before he made contact with my mom. My mother divorced him when I was two. She had it set up in the divorce decree that he was only to see me in her presence. Well that was a waste of time because he never attempted to see me. When I was ten I received a phone call from my aunt telling me he had been sent to prison in Georgia for five accounts of child molestation. I was told that four accounts were dropped. I received a call July 21, 1996 telling me that my father had passed away. They begged me to go to his funeral which I was very reluctant to go, but decided it was the right thing to do. Even though he died when I was thirteen and was only thirteen years behind in child support. My mother applied for government help for various helps but was told they needed to find my father and make him pay the government back before they could give her assistance. Now I was told that he died of a heart attack. I never saw an autopsy report and being that he was in prison for child molestation I have no idea the validity of that report. Am I sure of his guilt or innocence in this matter? No, I never knew the man so I have no clue. I know this much, that my life has turned out the way it is supposed to. God's plan for me has been much better. If he would have hung around I may have wound up in Nashville on crack or something. I always wanted to be a country singer. But instead my mother raised me the best way she new how. I graduated from Vidor High School in the top 25% of my class then went on to Lamar University to earn a bachelors of Science of Interdisciplinary Studies of Elementary Education. In six months I will graduate with a Masters in Educational Administration. So I would say God's plan for me that only involved Edward Forman Dollar for his name and Social Security after his death has been pretty good. Yes after twenty eight years I still wonder why my father did not hang around but I understand that life has been better this way. Today I have decided to honor the person who has been the father in my life. This person has played this role for twenty eight years of my life. Did I mention I am twenty eight years old. This person has been my number one cheerleader since the day I was born. Thank you Myrl Dollar (mama)for being mama and daddy. I am who I am today because of my mom. I also have to give credit to Jesus. Where my father lacked my mom and my savior have surely made up the difference. Happy Fathers day Mom. Love you