Oh, to Grace

Life is Filled with Decisions.Some significant.Some insigificant.Some momentous.Who to marry?Which job to take?Cream & sugar with your coffee, or drink it black?Or is it possible that there are no insignificant decisions?Nobody in town could re-sole shoes like my daddy. Many a time I remember him comin' home late of an evenin' on account of that sweaty pile of shoes and boots in the back of his shop.Daddy always said that Nadine Henderson could make a pair of shoes last longer than what you'd think was humanly possible. She did wear a ladies' 11 1/2 extra wide, so you could hardly blame her for keepin' 'em a good while. Why, she had to drive clear down to Nashville to get them big shoes!Anyhow, Daddy was workin' at pryin' up her cracked outsole when Little Jack came tearin' in. He banged open the door so hard he knocked off the little brass bell that hung just above the header, and it skittered across the floor like it were scared, too. I jumped off the barrel where I was sittin' and pullin' tacks off some old work boots. I scattered them bent tacks all over the shop, he scared me so. Daddy hollered at him and told him to speak up, but Little Jack could only stand and breathe hard.I still remember his big white eyes and his ribs pokin' out the sides of his overalls. We was stuck to the floor, waitin' for him to talk, and then the words he spoke were like a bucket of ice water in my face. He said, "Mister Frank...he dead...yor boy...is dead."