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Published Wednesday, January 25, 2012 in Opinion

Daddy had a reason

My daddy was something else. He was striking in his appearance; tall, silver haired and well dressed. He was so handsome that he turned heads wherever he went.

And while he was a fierce opponent in business, he was even more fierce when it came to his family.

I'm guessing it was during the time he owned a few coal mines that he felt the need to carry a gun. He pulled that gun more than once while protecting us from burglars and other ilk.

I was probably 12 years old when a man entered our home through a basement apartment. Since I married at age 17, I never lived in that apartment, but it was fashioned as a place for the teenagers in the family to live once they thought they should be on their own. It was kind of like a launching pad I suppose, one that was private enough but still under the eye of mom and dad.

The apartment had its own door to the outside, the same one that a total stranger used when he ran through the woods and broke through so he could enter the house. We heard him yelling from upstairs.

"They're gonna kill me!" he screamed.

Little did I know, dad had more than one gun in the house. Little more did I know, he kept a loaded one beside his chair in the living room.

Daddy had a reason.

And that night I found out that no matter what, he would protect us all.

In no time at all, daddy was holding the guy at loaded gunpoint and the man was begging for his life. His story was that he was cheating at a poker game in the apartment complex across the woods from our house, got caught and was running for his life.

"You took a wrong turn, buddy," my tall and handsome gun-totin' daddy informed him.

Daddy then gave him what momma called "what for" and turned him over to police where he would be safe and sound from his poker buddies.

Daddy served in WWII and he was tough as nails. We found out after he died Labor Day of last year that he had been shot three times while serving our country and never took a dime from his veteran's benefits.

But what we all know is that he was tough and protective. He had me followed when I took an unplanned teen-aged driving trip several hours from home. It was back before cellphones and dad's only way to keep an eye on my safety. I thought I was sneaky. He was way, way ahead of me. Thankfully I was indeed safe and returned home promptly. I would hate to see what would have become of anyone trying to cause harm to one of dad's kids.

There would be still more to learn about dad. When I was 16 I had a goose. I cannot say why I had a goose in our suburban yard, but I did. Anyway, Lucy and I decided to wake dad up on a Saturday morning. I carried the full grown goose into the house, through the kitchen, up three stairs to the bedrooms, flung open his bedroom door and tossed the goose into the air.

The next few seconds included frantic honking, yelling and a few choice words from daddy who was startled from a deep sleep. Before I could blink, dad had drawn a gun on the goose which was trying to fly in the bedroom with its full grown wingspan. "Don't shoot!" I screamed.

We had the "never-wake-me-up-with-that-blasted-goose-again" conversation, you know the one...anyway, he promised not to shoot it if I followed house rules. After that morning, it was easy to comply to his rules.

Daddy is gone now and more stories are coming out. When all the tales boil down, it's all about family with him. Whether it was his guns in the house or his hired guys to keep an eye on his wayward teens, dad had a reason. For that and so many reasons I cannot number, I love and respect him still.

Kathy Bohannon may be reached at kathybohan@yahoo.com.

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