With
Father’s Day coming up, I’m thinking about my dad, Raymond Forsythe, just as I
was thinking about my mom last month before Mother’s Day. He was born in rural Oklahoma in 1918, lost
his father to the lingering effects of influenza a few years later, and grew up
during the Depression. Times were hard
but, for him, they became even harder when his mother remarried, to a man who
had very little interest in work of any kind, except that of running an illegal
still, and whose only asset was his looks – there are some in the family who
would argue whether he even had that attribute.
Although
I don’t know much about what transpired to make my dad leave Oklahoma, I know
that by the early 1930’s, he came to Arizona where his two older sisters lived
with their husbands and he made the acquaintance of his newest brother-in-law,
Harlon Green. To the end of his life, my
dad described Harlon as ‘the first good man I was ever around’. Ironically, Harlon had also been raised by a
worthless stepfather who drank, gambled, and couldn’t hold a job, but Harlon
had decided at an early age that he wasn’t going to be like that. He was going to be a good man and my dad
followed his example. They both
succeeded.
My dad
was never without steady employment, and probably because he wasn’t well-educated,
education was important to him. Years
before he met my mother, he bought a piece of land which he planned to sell
when his kids were ready for college, and that’s exactly what he did. He treated people well, was friendly, and a
big tease. He was quick and witty and
made friends easily.
So here
is what I think. I think people choose
their path in life, that the old cliché is true - ‘What doesn’t kill us makes
us stronger’ but either way, it’s our choice.
People who choose to follow a good path are heroes of their own stories,
and those who don’t are their own villains.
As a writer, I like to create characters who overcome obstacles and make their own decisions for the best because
doing so makes them heroes – like my dad and my uncle.
Patricia Forsythe is the author of many romance novels, both print and ebooks and is always working on more. Most of them take place in the quirky little town of Lucky Break, Arizona. You can visit her at patriciaforsythebooks.com.
