08-24-2008, 10:51 PM
Sorry about the cliffhanger effect.......Not really intensional.....
I also suffer from diabetic neurapathy, and i've already lost about 40% of the nerve functions in my right side. I can only type so much before the pain and arm / hand swells up. also, sorry about my bad spelling.
Like i said; eventually my Dad and I became best friends, and even drinking buddies. We were both Atheist's, and were just fine with it. He eventually started sending money home and supporting the family. I was the youngest of 4. Three boys and one girl. I stayed in Idaho for the next 4 years because I decided to go back to school and finish high school. I graduated in 73 and then went back to Arizona. By that time my mom and dad had made up. ( close to 15 years seperated ) My dad was getting older and mellowed out some. They were eventually married again, and I was the best man. ( That was kind of cool. )......
My dad worked the copper mines in AZ, until his retirement. At the time of his death,( 1992 ) from emphesyma, my sister asked him on his death bed if he wanted a pasture, priest, or bible, and I remember well, his reply to her.
He said if any of those things can create a miracle and bring life back to this body, YES!, If not, what do I want them for. I lived my life the way I wanted, i'll suffer the consequences, if there are any. I think that when it's over, it's just over, thats it......
At the age of about 12, ( before Idaho ) my grandmother started taking me to the mormon church. Only my sister and I went, because my older brothers just refused. I went because of the love I felt for my grandmother, but deep inside, I prefered my gang brothers, a rebelious lifestyle, and atheist. I never accepted the self proclaimed profet ( Joseph Smith ), The burried golden tablets he dug up that led to the book of mormon, and the polagamy that once existed, causing a break in the church. No blacks were allowed into the so called priest-hood or upper congregation. A womans place was in the kitchen...only...As I also mentioned in thread #1, we were living below the poverty level with my grandmother working in a laundry. As it turns out the laundry belonged to the bishop of the LDS church, of which she was also the secretary of the church and laundry, aside from her hard labor duties.
One day some of the congregation complained to my grandmother that I needed to start wearing a nice new/clean white shirt and a tie to church. Also that tennis shoes were no longer allowed. I remember that all I had back then was hand me downs from my brothers, mostly torn and mended levis, some old t-shirts and one pair of old tennis shoes. I OFTEN DIDN'T WEAR SOCKS OR EVEN SHOES...I saw my grandmother cry over this, and I never went back again. I would manage to hide on Sunday's, and she never forced me, although she did continue to attend for years to come, until after her retirment. She got nothing for over 35 years of working in the laundry and being a secretary to the church. I later determined that it was all job security for her, even though she didn't make squat for pay. In the end it was my alcoholic father that allowed her to live out the rest of her life with him and my mom in thier double wide trailer. He had slowed down a lot on the drinking after his retirement, and illness. all three, mom dad, grandma have since past away. The domestic violance stopped, and all his children forgave him.
Now give me a little time and i'll get to 2003 and my seeking Christ....
I also suffer from diabetic neurapathy, and i've already lost about 40% of the nerve functions in my right side. I can only type so much before the pain and arm / hand swells up. also, sorry about my bad spelling.
Like i said; eventually my Dad and I became best friends, and even drinking buddies. We were both Atheist's, and were just fine with it. He eventually started sending money home and supporting the family. I was the youngest of 4. Three boys and one girl. I stayed in Idaho for the next 4 years because I decided to go back to school and finish high school. I graduated in 73 and then went back to Arizona. By that time my mom and dad had made up. ( close to 15 years seperated ) My dad was getting older and mellowed out some. They were eventually married again, and I was the best man. ( That was kind of cool. )......
My dad worked the copper mines in AZ, until his retirement. At the time of his death,( 1992 ) from emphesyma, my sister asked him on his death bed if he wanted a pasture, priest, or bible, and I remember well, his reply to her.
He said if any of those things can create a miracle and bring life back to this body, YES!, If not, what do I want them for. I lived my life the way I wanted, i'll suffer the consequences, if there are any. I think that when it's over, it's just over, thats it......
At the age of about 12, ( before Idaho ) my grandmother started taking me to the mormon church. Only my sister and I went, because my older brothers just refused. I went because of the love I felt for my grandmother, but deep inside, I prefered my gang brothers, a rebelious lifestyle, and atheist. I never accepted the self proclaimed profet ( Joseph Smith ), The burried golden tablets he dug up that led to the book of mormon, and the polagamy that once existed, causing a break in the church. No blacks were allowed into the so called priest-hood or upper congregation. A womans place was in the kitchen...only...As I also mentioned in thread #1, we were living below the poverty level with my grandmother working in a laundry. As it turns out the laundry belonged to the bishop of the LDS church, of which she was also the secretary of the church and laundry, aside from her hard labor duties.
One day some of the congregation complained to my grandmother that I needed to start wearing a nice new/clean white shirt and a tie to church. Also that tennis shoes were no longer allowed. I remember that all I had back then was hand me downs from my brothers, mostly torn and mended levis, some old t-shirts and one pair of old tennis shoes. I OFTEN DIDN'T WEAR SOCKS OR EVEN SHOES...I saw my grandmother cry over this, and I never went back again. I would manage to hide on Sunday's, and she never forced me, although she did continue to attend for years to come, until after her retirment. She got nothing for over 35 years of working in the laundry and being a secretary to the church. I later determined that it was all job security for her, even though she didn't make squat for pay. In the end it was my alcoholic father that allowed her to live out the rest of her life with him and my mom in thier double wide trailer. He had slowed down a lot on the drinking after his retirement, and illness. all three, mom dad, grandma have since past away. The domestic violance stopped, and all his children forgave him.
Now give me a little time and i'll get to 2003 and my seeking Christ....