Jim Odum

Gosh, wasn't my dad a handsome man?  This picture was taken of him during his Navy days.  I love it because of the smile.  He had a quirky sense of humor and smiled easily.  In this picture, he looks a little like Jimmy and somewhat even like Linda in the eye area.  There is a little of me, too.  None of us got those pretty, blue eyes though.  We got the chocolate brown ones from our mother.  Nice but not as nice as crystal blue.  I remember how crystal blue his eyes still were the week before he died of cancer in 2003.  His old body was thin and tired but those eyes were still full of life and vivid blue.  I made a conscious effort to remember his eyes.  I wanted to remember the life in him, his spirit, not how cancer had wasted his physical body.  Today, on Father's Day, I chose a full-of-life young picture of my dad to share.  This is how I think his spirit looks now.  So, Happy Father's Day, Daddy, you look goooood!