104 years ago today, my father John Woodard Carter Senior was born. He was shot growing up in a hunting accident. Mass gangrene set in and nearly killed him. They would have taken his arm but they did not think he would survive. He did more with that twisted and gnarled arm than most men ever do with perfect ones. And somehow he still managed to get in the army and was in World War II. He told me the story of the boat he was on almost being sunk crossing the English Channel by German U-boat. But they got the submarine with depth charges. In a day when men were still men, he was the toughest I ever knew, bar none. Daddy was no Metro man and he was not gender confused. Daddy was hard. But he was a good man. He was fair, honest and true. He was a hard-working man. He climbed poles for 35 years for Duke Power Company. He used to go out in unbelievable storms, for days and weeks at a time before all the OSHA safety regulations were created. Daddy was also an electrician. Daddy was the best tree surgeon in Thomasville, Nc . Instead of watching cartoons on Saturdays, all of my Saturdays were filled with learning to be a tree-hoss. I asked an old friend we called Tree Hoss. “How about it, Stanley Byerly
? … Pick up the limb or I’ll pick up the limb after you.” Lol, but I loved working with my father. Daddy used to put the lights in Cushwa stadium and in the Hi Toms Stadium. I remember him coming out of one of those poles in a giant wood piece going through his leg. Daddy ripped it out when he got down-wrapped it up and went up the next Pole. That’s just the way he was. He used to check the spark in the mowers by putting his hand on the plug and pulling the cord. He never winced or made a face. If you tried to cheat Daddy, you had a fight on your hands. Daddy always fought for the Underdog, even if he was the only one. He never waited on public opinion to do what was right. And daddy didn’t care who you were. I thought Daddy was going to knock the preacher out when he lied to my dad. He cared more about who you were than what you said you were. I remember when Daddy had major life-threatening events, he would smile and laugh through them. I finally figured out that he did this so that others could not worry about him. They were too busy laughing. I watched him Flash the preacher showing them where they had shaved, and watched everybody leave the rooms for in stitches and the preacher stuttering and stumbling dumbfounded. Nobody could be worried about him because they were too busy laughing at his mirth. They couldn’t believe he’d done that….. I remember when they took Daddy’s intestines out from colon cancer. And he swole up double in the middle of the night. The doctors and nurses came in and told me they would get the surgery room ready to try to seal up what had broken inside him after the surgery. But told me honestly that they thought he would die before they could get him in there and do anything. In the dark of the night when no one was there but me and Dad. He grabbed my hand and said the 23rd psalm quietly and reverently. I didn’t even know dad knew the 23rd psalm. He wasn’t particularly religious and had never said it to me before. But as I came to find out in the following years his faith was astonishingly deep. As he said the 23rd psalm the room literally lightened and you could feel Angels coming through the windows. Daddy was immediately healed and I got to keep him for several more years. I am writing a book now about the miracle power of the 23rd Psalm. I came to learn in the Years following that time that Daddy had a deep faith that he didn’t talk about a lot. Daddy used to worry that I would never grow up and accept my duties. But I know he and mother would be very proud of me now… I’m glad he didn’t have to see me go through the brain injury of my first wife, and raising kids alone, until I married Dawn Carter . The night before daddy died – I Drove All Night from Florida to see him. No one knew he was in trouble not even dad. But somehow I knew I had to get there – and was miraculously there to spend the last morning of my father’s life with him – the day before his 78th birthday. He has not been with me for the last 26 years. But his principles continue to teach me all the time and live inside me. He was so hard that mama told me when I was little that he didn’t love me. But I told Mama even as a little boy that I knew he did. I never had any doubt in my father’s love. He had very unconventional ways of teaching. But they were very effective. I loved my father. He’s not here, but I still celebrated his 104th birthday July 22, 2024!