Today is my father's birthday. Dec. 6, 1911. My father passed away in 1980, when I was 25. We were very close and I still miss him to this day. Henry Thomas Noble. Grew up in southern rural Georgia in a very poor family, with lots of kids, never got past 8th grade as the nearest high school was too far away. Left home at 13 to start working. Got married and started a family in the Great Depression. Had five children, two of whom passed away as infants. A hard life.
He was full of love. He loved to tell stories. He was an extrovert, unlike his youngest daughter. He had a great sense of humor, although characteristically corny, and loved to tease. When I was a child, every night I sat on the edge of his bed and he told me stories from his life. I wish I had written them down. I would have been the next Laura Ingalls. He worked hard, was honest, was generous with family and friends. He embraced life, with all it's highs and lows. He was diagnosed with liver cancer, fought hard but really we all knew the treatment would only extend his life by a few months. I regret that he never met his grandson Ted. I regret that he never saw the next phase of my life where I tried hard to live by the values that he instilled in me.
Dad, I love you. You are always with me.
