Frank Worthy b. 8-14-1932 d. 9-13-2007

My Uncle Frank wasn't my uncle at all. He was my mother's first cousin. They were raised in the same house and were very close in age and very, very close in all other things. So I called him Uncle and that was close enough - plus it sounds a lot better than Cousin Frank!

He's been gone almost two years now.

It seems like yesterday that I went up to eulogize him. I had no notes, I had nothing prepared because quite honestly, I didn't even know if I was going to be able to utter a word - such was the devistation in my heart.

I loved my father dearly, but this man was, in all aspects, more than a father to me.

And I loved him so very much.

I miss him even more than that........

I was going through some of my stuff today and found this letter that he had written to my son when he was 16 years old and a junior in high school.

As I read this today, I remember all the reasons why my life is so blessed and I wanted to share this letter as a testament to all that is good in the world that seems to be more and more fractured.



Dear Cody;

One day in June 1985, I received a telephone call in Baton Rouge advising me that a baby was on the way. I left my office immediately. I had a new Buick and I sailed down the highway rapidly (keeping the speed limit, you understand) to Hattiesburg.

My western boots announced my arrival as I walked down the hallway and your dad was standing up with a hospital gown held just right for me to walk right into and directly over to pick you up. I sat in a rocker with you in my arms for as long as they let me.

That was almost 17 years ago and a time that I was most privileged to be a part of. I was there then. I am here now. I will always be as near as you want me to be.

You have embarked on a journey that will be filled with every emotion that is known to mankind. John Locke, an English philosopher of the 1600's, compared a baby's mind to a blank sheet of paper. How comes it to be filled he ask? It is filled by your experience. You will accumulate experiences whose sum total will equal the kind of person you will become. The kind of experiences you have will be dictated by the choices you make.

YOU are responsible for the choices. No one else!

I am so pleased to know how your father is encouraging you. Keith Kennedy has every reason to be proud of both of his offspring's. You have been allowed, if not required, to think for yourselves. To make decisions on your own. That creates a strong foundation for a stable mind. It shows you are trusted to make the best decision you can based on the facts as you know them. You will make mistakes as you travel this road of life. At least I hope you do. If you don't make mistakes, you just aren't doing anything. [There are enough people already doing enough of that]

I have made some lulu's. Some of which I hope you NEVER find out about but, all
of them made me the person I am today.

Now, some people will say that certainly is nothing to brag about. Well, I want to go on record as saying that the bottom line, the closing chapters of this life, is that I am happy. I have people to love and people who love me. And my young friend, no matter how rich, how famous, how much political power you have, with out love you have nothing. Zilch, nada.

The Bible tells you that. I do not believe that you can have true love without knowing our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I know it for a fact! Passion, sex, hate, anger, yes, all of those things and more. But, without knowing the saving grace of God and his Son will never know true love. And without love, your life will be empty and useless to you and everyone else, except Satan and his followers.

If others were to read this letter they would be sure that I have a ghost writer. I am not proud of my earlier spiritual life and I had all of the advantages. My father and mother were both church oriented people. If the doors of the church were opened we were there.

I learned my scripture, read my bible and attended Sunday School until the day I left home for my boot camp. I can only hope your DI was not of the same cut as mine was. It was many years before I accepted, really, truly, without reservation, accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

AND that was MY loss!

I was flown back to Tokyo General Military Hospital from Korea in 1952. It was there that I received a letter from my father who did not know I was in the hospital at the time he wrote it. He had enclosed a poem which he had torn from the back of a "PowerLines" Magazine. I memorized it and for more than 50 years now it has been my credo. I offer it to you with the belief that if you remember it and live by it the experiences I wrote about earlier in this letter will generate one fine man.


THE MAN IN THE GLASS

When you get what you want in our struggle for gain,
And the world makes you King for a day,
Just go to the mirror and look at yourself:
And see what that man has to say!

It isn't you father or mother or wife,
Who judgment upon you must pass,
The one whose verdict counts most in your life:
Is the one staring back in the Glass.

He's the one you must satisfy beyond all the rest,
For he's with you right up to the end...
And you have passed your most difficult test:
If the man in the Glass is your friend.

You may be one who got a good break,
They think you're a wonderful guy:
But the man in the Glass says you're only a fake:
If you can't look him straight in the eye.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass:
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears:
If you cheated the man in the Glass.

There is a country song that says if you don't believe in something, you will fall for anything. I think that is very true. I was a hard nosed business man for many years and I believed in ME. I truly believe that I was honest in all business dealing. I never betrayed a friend, broke my word, or failed to pay a debt. Many will say that makes me a good man and it may, however, if I had allowed God into my life much earlier I would have been a much better man.

Cody, it appears to me that you already have the "Man in the Glass" taken care of. I see too from what I have observed that also know God. From those experiences of mine I also know there are many pit falls along the way. Some are difficult to see and you may already be falling when you realize what is happening to you.

Remember ALWAYS in any circumstance, if you know God and you reach out for his help, HE WILL BE THERE, forever, for always, amen.

Life is a journey not a destination and it is one heckofa experience to enjoy. To enjoy it you must put others above self, take time to smell the roses and walk hand in hand with your God. I pray that he will open your heart and you will receive all of his blessings. It is up to you my friend for he has already stood at the door an knocked.

All you have to do is open the door.

I love you Cody Kennedy, as if you were my own.

Frank Worthy
February 7, 2002



So today, cherish someone. Love them for all the right reasons. And if you can't find it in your heart - TRY HARDER!

Peace.