Everyone Has a Story to Tell

Sunday evenings; I like to visit people in the neighborhood..it's so fun to hear their stories.

So, I recently visited DF and his family...here's his story:  (Before I tell you this story, I'd like to tell you about DF.  He is a very kind, soft-spoken, gentle person.  He is also a bishop and a good, good man/father/husband/person.)

At age 2,  while living in Louisiana, he saw his father murdered by his grandfather in self-defense.  His mother took DF and his two older brothers to Texas to live.  She became involved with a very abusive man.  Late one night, the man's sister came to visit.  Upon seeing DF,  now age three, who had black and blue bruises covering his entire little body, she told her brother and DF's mother that if they didn't immediately take DF to the hospital, she was calling the police.  DF was put in a box and dropped off at the hospital while the adults took off.  

DF was eventually taken by his mother's sister and husband to live with them in Louisiana.  So, he was raised by his aunt and his uncle, whom he came to call "mother and father."  He was raised in the back woods of Louisiana by humble, humble folk in very humble circumstances.  His two older brothers were raised by his grandparents.  His adoptive parents taught him to work, to go to church, to love God, and to be good.  They also encouraged him to go on a mission and to go to college, both of which he did.

For many years, DF heard nothing from his birth mother.  Then, about ten years ago, she called DF's mother/aunt and wanted to reconnect with her family.   Two years ago, DF received word that his birth mother had died.  He went immediately to be there for the service.  As he had just been made an LDS bishop, he was asked to conduct the grave-side services.  When he was standing in the cemetery, a car drove up.  Out of the car came the man who had so beaten and abused DF.  DF walked over, shook his hand, and spoke kindly to the man, who was totally taken aback by DF's forgiving, gentle nature.

As I listened to his story, I was so struck by how there was never any bitterness, anger, animosity in his heart.  One of his brothers is filled with rage, hatred, anger, hurt over his life, and has had a very hard life dealing with his childhood situations.  But, for DF, he was given a blessing that the traumatic events of his early years would not have a negative impact on his adult life.  

Recently, I heard DF give a talk in church.  It was a powerful, beautiful talk about how his father helped him restore an old go-cart that DF earned the money to buy.  In his conclusion, DF told how much he loved his father and how much he realized his father had cared about him.  

His life blesses the lives of so many people.  

Mine included.

Oh, I do love those Sunday night visits.