Forty Nine Years Ago Today

Today marks the 49th anniversary of my father's passing from injuries in a car accident two weeks prior. I often think of how much of a hole was left in my life by losing my father at such a young age. It's been hard not having a father and growing up in a single parent household at a time when that was not the norm like it is now. I grew up really not knowing a whole lot about my dad, who he was or what his family was like, because we also had very little contact with his family as well. It always bothered me feeling like I didn't know his parents or sister that well or my cousins, either. I did meet them a few times throughout my life but I didn't know them like I did my maternal kinfolk. I've gotten to know at least one of my cousins since but I still should do a better job of keeping in touch with that side of the family. I met a lot of my dad's family about seven years ago when my uncle died and I decided to go to the funeral since it was only a four or five hours drive away. I met one of my dad's surviving cousins, plus my aunt, one of my cousins, his children and some other folks were there. It was an amazing experience I have never forgotten because the funeral was actually at the tiny cemetery in a little village called Letart Falls down in southeast Ohio along the Ohio River. A lot of my ancestors are buried there and it was a really moving experience walking among all those tombstones and realizing that those folks blood flows through my veins, making them truly immortal in a way. I sort of regret that I never married or had kids to pass all that along to another generation, though. It would seem that our family name will die out with our generation, although our family line won't, seeing as how my younger sister is married with two daughters. But over time, our family has produced more girls than boys so it would seem that our family name is destined to die out although there are plenty more Burnells out there who may well be distant kin, or they may not.

So next year will mark 50 years since my father died. I wish I could say that I remember my dad, but I don't, not really. What I do remember are shadowy memories at best. However, in spite of how little I remember, I've learned some things since that have filled in more of a picture of him. One thing I am immensely proud of is his service in WWII, something that for too long was not properly recognized. I decided to remedy that by having a proper veteran's marker put on his grave, so I contacted the local VFW chapter and got one of those markers that have flags in them and put it at his gravesite so that all may know that he was a member of the so-called "Greatest Generation". His GI Bill helped pay my way through college as well (at least until I qualified for free tuition my last two years of school!) so for that, I am grateful to my father for the sacrifices he made during the second World War. It was his experiences with segregation during the war years that changed his life and made him pursue a life as a sociology professor specializing in race relations. Several times he put his career on the line by standing up for the rights of black college students, something I'm also proud of him for doing. So Daddy, here is my thanks to you for all you did and all the sacrifices you made. I just wish I had gotten to know him better.