carpenter

Any time dad would get Mr. Roy Rakestraw to come over to the house to work on the large projects that required carpentry skills, dad would offer me to help.  I was told that Mr. Rakestraw would give dad a discount for my assistance, but I know that I was more of a hindrance than a help.  I wasn't very thrilled about it the first time, but Mr. Rakestraw was a very pleasant fellow to be around.

I'd be his tool fetch-it boy, running back and forth from his truck to the work-site. My dad had a well-stocked workshop, but Mr Rakestraw had tools in the back of his truck I had never laid eyes on before.  I had no idea what they were called, so I would bring tools back and forth to him asking, "Is this it? Is this what you want?"  He would smile and usually send me back to the truck again and again with a more detailed description of said tool.  He was a very patient boss.

He didn't really need my help, he was a true master of his craft and could handle any project alone. Perhaps he didn't mind me there for the sheer unintentional comic entertainment of my tool-fetching-ignorance.  He was very easygoing, always with a calm and steady demeanor.  He was a quiet, gentle giant of a man who seemed to always speak with a smile.

I would see him throughout most of my life, he was my sister's father in-law. Today I heard of his passing. He was truly a man among men. He will be missed and remembered as such.

I know Roy is feeling right at home now, after all, Jesus is a carpenter too.