My Dad's Floppy Sock and Tender Mercies

Years ago I shared my experience with my angel dad.
I have made a few changes to use for my Final Essay for my English class in the Pathway Program.

Jody Shelley

December 6, 2017

ENG 106 L13 Personal Essay

Sister Bowles

My Dad’s Floppy Sock and Tender Mercies

When I was a child and into my teen years, growing up with my dad around was mostly fun. He had a good sense of humor and he liked to have fun. Our friends were always welcomed to our house and dad liked everyone. He reminded me of Charles Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie when it came to liking people.

When my dad was just a boy, maybe around 10 years old but not yet a teenager, he got his toes cut off on his right foot up to the middle of his arch during a farming accident with some kind of potato conveyor belt. It cut it half way off and his dad had to cut it the rest of the way off to free him from the machine. This resulted in him having a limp for the rest of his life. His foot stopped him from doing many of the things that he wanted to do, but I never heard him complain about it and he would often tease us with his partial foot.

There were times when our friends were over to the house and my dad would take off his shoes. Now this wasn’t just a boring event. After he took off his right shoe, he would look at his floppy sock, shake it, and look shocked. There was only part of his foot in his sock, the area where the toes were supposed to be, the sock was floppy. He would ask us kids where his foot went? He would then proceed to look for his foot in his shoe, under the chairs and get us all looking as well. Then he would chase us kids around with his floppy sock, with a limp, because he couldn’t run well with that right foot. Dad had all of us screaming and laughing.  He would run the best he could but of course it was with a limp. This also made his back hurt for many years.

A few years after I got married, my parents divorced and both my parents eventually married other spouses. My brother and I were both married with our own little families by then and we were pretty stable in our lives. Several events happened and eventually things were pretty strained between my dad and I. We never took the chance to make a complete amends before he passed away, but he did tell me he loved me during one of his coherent times on his death bed.

Fast forward to the year 2010, a year and a half after dad passed away. My husband, Doran, and I have a few running routes. One route goes past the cemetery where my father is buried. When we run by the cemetery we are always saying "Hi" to dad and all the others there. Sometimes when I am having a rough time during a run, I am constantly calling on my dad to help me. While I was out on a run in the canyon with Doran, training for a Half Marathon, I had an amazing experience. It was a beautiful day and a great run. We started up the canyon and we were going to run down to home. It would be a total of eight miles. Because Doran was usually faster than me, he would run a little ahead of me but he wouldn't go far and then turn around and come back to me. This particular run was not bad because it was mostly downhill. So, this is why I was a little confused as to what happened.

For the first time I did not use my iPod. I just listened to my breathing, my shoes hitting the road and the vehicles rushing by. Like I said, it was a beautiful run. I did a pretty good job pacing myself the whole time and I was feeling good. About mile five all of a sudden, my dad popped into my thoughts. At this time, I am wondering why? I am not struggling and calling for his help yet. But then the feeling got stronger. Pretty soon I could feel him running next to me, yes, FEEL him running, on BOTH feet, and he was young, maybe his early 20’s. He was on my right side. The feeling was SO strong that I could almost SEE him. He was enjoying the run and I could feel that he was smiling. At this time, I am just sobbing while I am running. I didn’t dare look towards dad or change my pace. The feelings were so strong that I didn’t want to break the “spell”. Doran turned around and saw I had tears just streaming down my face, so he came back to see if I was okay. I couldn't say much at the moment and just said "Yes, I'll tell you later." I motioned him to go on ahead, so he did. I felt my dad slowly leave but I felt his love and support for me. Because of the previous issues before dad died, for years I wondered if he still loved me and if he was mad at me. But this tender mercy let me know that he was happy with me and for me.

I am so thankful for my testimony of the hereafter, of eternal families, and of the Atonement and how we can all repent and strive to be better each day so that we can see our loved ones again.

            What a wonderful blessing it was for me to experience this tender mercy. I truly ran with my angel dad. Doran is so good to help me achieve my goals and I now KNOW for sure that my dad will be with me as well when I need his help. Even though dad had his weaknesses, along with the rest of us, he always supported my brother and I in any endeavor we took on. He was my biggest fan and I know he will continue to be my biggest fan.