Dr. Norm Wakefield: "The Joyful Dad"

Lasting Laughter

What will be the last memory your family members have of you?

Judy Price’s last memory of her dad, Bob Armstrong, was hearing his hearty laughter as he played with his granddaughter. When Judy looked in on them, she found grand-father and granddaughter on the floor romping. He was wearing a ring in his nose and earrings in his ears. The two of them were laughing, acting silly, and having tons of fun.

Bob was a pilot for Scenic Air Lines. He died a few days later when his aircraft crashed near Montrose, Colorado. In a moment, he was gone, and Judy and her daughter were left with powerful, positive memories. The memories filled hearts with warmth and laughter long after Bob’s last day on earth. “He was just one of those people that, if you came in contact with him, you loved him. Fun is really the only word I can use to describe him. He was such a wonderful father.”

We’ve heard lots of people relate their memories of fathers and grandfathers. Many memories are not happy:

• “He was a good man but he never seemed to have time for me. He was more interested in his dirt bikes than in his daughters.”

• “I’ve been scared of my dad all my life. He used threats to control me, and I knew they were real.”

• “My grandfather abused me when I was five years old. I still don’t know how to get free of the bitterness.”

• “Dad and mom divorced when I was three. Dad came around a few times but then seemed to drift away and never returned.”

Three thousand years ago a wise man wrote, “The memory of the righteous will be a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot” (Proverbs 10:7). Every day we are given a new opportunity to make deposits in someone’s memory bank. Bob Armstrong invested a few minutes of laughter, and that investment continues to refresh, delight, and energize. Positive memories will give joy and hope to those we love. What better investment could we make?  

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Dr. Norm Wakefield is a popular author, speaker, seminary professor, and joyful dad to five happy, adult children. A few of his sought-after books are Legacy of Joy (written with his son-in-law), Men are from Israel, Women are from Moab(written with his daughter), and The Dad Difference (written with Josh McDowell).

"God picked my dad out just for me because God has a very good sense of humor "

--Anonymous Child