Some experiences change us. They alter our thinking, turn us down a different path, or inspire us. My Dad had one of those moments when he was 12. It changed the course of his life.
I was thinking about my Dad this morning. I remember a story he shared with me when I was young. One that has stayed with me through the years.
A Warm Georgia Wind tells the story of three young boys and the fateful day that changed the life of one of them.
My Dad passed in 2010, but his legacy and his words remain with me. They’ve been a source of wisdom and comfort, as well as an anchor. I’ve written about them in my journals and have passed them on to our daughters, who remember their Papa with love. He was a great man, the first hero of my life, and I miss him every day.
This particular story came full circle right before my Dad passed away.
Perhaps that’s why it’s stayed with me and impacted me so much. It was at my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary celebration that Dad alluded back to it in the quiet way he had. He was sitting at one of the tables, holding one of the portraits we’d presented to him and Mom. The six of us, our spouses, and children had sat for a series of portraits as an anniversary gift. That was a feat considering how many of us there are! Still, the pictures came out great, and we had a number of them framed.
Dad was holding one of the ones showing the entire group. I came up behind him, placing my hands on his shoulders and asked him if he was enjoying the celebration. He replied that he was. continuing to look at the picture. Then, so quietly, I almost missed it, I heard him say, “This is why I was spared that day. For all of you.” I knew instictively what he was referring too. I squeezed his shoulders and remained there not saying a word. They weren’t needed.
A WARM GEORGIA WIND
A young boy and two friends,
a warm Georgia wind,
on that day, he would never forget.
For you, never forget
that moment in time,
When time freezes, a lone epithet.
On a shore by a lake,
temptation lay still,
But as loud as the wind it did call.
For three boys, it’s enough
the adventure begun.
And what’s begun must be done to the end.
Adrift on a lake,
though none should be there.
The water those three could not tame.
Beneath Heaven’s eye,
before the sun set,
of the three, there were two it would claim.
A young boy and two friends,
adrift on a lake,
unaware that the moment drew near.
For the water came in,
the three could not swim,
and the darkness came flooding inside.
In a lake, by a shore,
three boys struggled thus,
for the air that would keep them alive.
The darkness once crossed,
can’t turn back the tide.
What’s begun must be done to the end.
In a lake by a shore,
the light fading fast,
he struggled against going down.
When the darkness he’d crossed
gave into the light,
and the tip of his toe hit some ground.
Was it fate on that lake
that turned back the tide,
for that boy, only one of the three?
Beneath Heaven’s eye,
before the sun set,
of the three, only he would remain.
A young boy wonders why,
of the three, he survived
when he came just that close to the end?
What did Heaven foresee
for the one left behind?
What purpose was waiting for him?
On a shore by a lake,
a young boy did wait.
What answers did Heaven reveal?
You must not question why.
Though the questions still come.
What’s begun must be done till the end.
JN Fenwick (© 2018) | All rights reserved.
JN Fenwick/mothjournal14 ©2025 | All rights reserved. A Warm Georgia Wind published in 2018 in Four Weeks.
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