Take Care of Daddy

Please welcome Lee Hansen. She is guest posting today. I have known Lee for several years now. She writes some of the most intriguing and engaging articles. Lee loves her family and it is evident in this article. She gives great meaning to Ephesians 6:1-2 “Children Obey Your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honor thy father and mother.”


Take Care of Your Daddy

My mother to her children said these five words shortly before she passed from this life to the next, “Look after and protect each other.” This was something we did learn. It is something that my siblings and I have taken very seriously to do. I came from a large family. When we left for the day, I remember my parent’s instructions to represent our family name well.

Had my mother still been alive, my father and she would have celebrated 70 years of marriage this past April. Theirs was a love that stood the test for the 62 years. As a couple, they were a blessing. It is not as if they did not have their share of problems as all marriages do, but they were determined to overcome them and persevere.

They were married for a long time. They could finish each other's sentences and knew what the other one was thinking. When the ambulance wheeled her out of their home, she told him that she was not coming back. She knew she was dying. For the few weeks, that she lived after that in the local hospital my father's love for her remained true to the end. I recall a picture of them kissing. To this day, that is one of my favorite pictures and memories of my parent's love for each other.

Last summer my father had a fall and broke his leg. It required a hospital stay and several months of rehabilitation. Because this was the third injury he has sustained on that leg, the healing process is quite slow. Presently, he is disabled and has to use a walker to transport himself.

Just recently, he went to live with my brother and his wife in Maryland. It was an ideal situation because their children were either attending college or had already graduated with no intention of coming home on a permanent basis. Therefore, my nephew's room is now a handicapped room for my father. In addition, he is receiving home health care services as a WWII veteran; he will be receiving additional assistance from the VA.
At 91 years of age, my father's mind is still quite sharp. When asked what he now wants in life he will tell you the following. "I want to worship the Lord, I want to be surrounded
by the love of family and friends and I want to help others."

If Momma could look down from heaven, I know with a certainty that she would be proud of us as her children because we are taking good care of our daddy. In addition, do you know what? We would not have it any other way. We will honor our father because we love him and because we know that is what God would have us do too.


Lee Hansen, 2012 copyright. All rights reserved.


BIO: Lee Hansen comes from a large family. From her parents she learned the importance of unconditional love. Before her mother died, she reminded her children to take care of their father. This is something that they count as an honor to do in love for their father and in tribute to their mother.

Lee enjoys writing on

Yahoo Voices, http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/121938/lee_hansen.html, and taking day trips locally. She is an encourager and works along with women in ministry.