Blinded by Blessings! As I have grown older, I realize this statement represents me. My childhood was wonderful! I would not trade my parents with anyone else. They were so good to me, and gave me a great up-bringing. Furthermore, my extended family has always been a source of strength and love! Now that we are adults, my sister and I have talked about how fortunate we were that our parents' friends were so cool and invested so much quality in our lives. They had a big part of shaping the people we have become. As members of Vidalia First United Methodist Church, we were provided with caring Christian people who brought us up in the way of the Lord. As a young Christian while in high school, many adults from my church as well as other area church leaders were instrumental in my life.
However, I amazed myself that I really didn't recognize just how important my childhood friends' parents were to me until it hit me this weekend. Don't get me wrong, I have appreciated so many of these wonderful people, but as I dwelled on this thought, it became apparent to me that my friends' parents have been parents to me while I was at their home or on road trips. They housed me, fed me, and put up with my shenanigans! The reason this came home to me was my thoughts and prayers for the Billy Morrison family.
After hearing about the passing of Mr. Billy, thoughts of our time together flooded my mind. Since Billy's son, Granville and I were great friends while growing up, I was constantly at their house. Granville's parents were ALWAYS good to me. Sisters Veronica and Angela were my friends, too.
But, Granville's daddy was special! The Morrisons had a great backyard for sports! I am saying... we played football, baseball, basketball, frisbee hockey, and even boxed for a little while. Mr. Billy was All-time Quarterback and All-time Pitcher...meaning he pitched and quarterbacked both teams. He made the teams fair. He required us to follow the rules. He made things seem official. I heard it at least once (if not more), "If Granville's daddy is not playing, I'm not playing." As kids, we could make up teams and play games on our own just fine, but his daddy enhanced things so much that it just wasn't as fun without him. One of my favorite parts was his commentary of the game while he was playing. With his deep voice, he would build us up and we thought we had made some great play. In a nutshell...WE WERE VERY BLESSED TO HAVE MR. BILLY! I'll never forget the times Mr. Billy was pitching and he would get someone out. He would say, "Give me another mullet!" or " Next mullet!" This meant for the next batter to take the plate to be the batter. It is so engrained in me that even last year as a middle school teacher, I would say, "Next Mullet!" This meant next volunteer or question. Of course, I had to either explain it or change my vernacular!
Praise God for allowing me to have Mr. Billy Morrison as my adult-supervisor, fellow-competitor, advisor, commentator for games, and friend!!
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