August
25, 1921.
A
big stone house in a small, rural township.
The
gift of life is celebrated once again.
Quietly.
Humbly.
On
this same day a Peace Treaty is signed.
Again.
Twenty
years later it will fail. Again.
The
child was named George Showers Gehr, the third to bear that name.
Like
most individuals, his was a life of contrasts.
His
first eight years were an age of prosperity & growth.
The
next ten were just the opposite.
They
called it The Depression, but it was more than that.
For
a child becoming a man it had to make a mark.
Lessons learned;
Life changed;
Change
is constant and at times, traumatic.
In
his 22nd year he learned a new lesson: War!
The
country boy was now on foreign soil.
The
quiet, peaceful farm was traded for horror and death.
He
was forced to fight the country of his ancestry,
In a plane,
With no engine!
Though
he survived, he paid a price.
The loss of his friend;
The loss of his brother;
And the loss of innocence.
But
wars end and life resumes.
A
new career leads to a new love.
The
kid with 13 siblings marries an only child.
(The
ironies of life are revealed in multiple ways!)
By
some standards his life was modest, but don’t tell him that!
He
celebrated the Gift of Life daily
Through his family, his friends, his
faith.
Through
ups and downs,
Through sorrows and joys,
He found a peace he
longed for.
His
was a life of the highest ambitions:
·
Love
·
Joy
·
Peace
·
Patience
·
Kindness
·
Goodness
·
Gentleness
·
Faithfulness
·
Self
control
The
Fruit of the Holy Spirit, in full bloom, in one man.
My
father. My hero. My friend.
Written by
George Douglas Gehr on November 27, 2018
as a tribute
to his father, George Showers Gehr,
who went
home to be with Jesus November 24, 2018
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