Song I have always loved, well ever since I was 14. Farther Along.
I did not go to church regularly when I was a child. I wentvery irregularly to the Nazarene Church which was very close to our house. Went to VBS there. Went on Easter. Was always invited to be in the Christmas play and had a part one time I remember.
And in the 4th, 5th and 6th grades I had the same teacher, a minister of the Gospel, Daisy Manes, and so every morning we would sing 2 or 3 church songs, and on Wednesday morning we had to say a Bible verse. Friday afternoons, Bible stories...loved them.
I am getting sidetracked though, this stuff should be on my memories blog. Back to the song, Farther Along.
I had a great uncle, William (Bill) Lawson, who lived with us for several years when I was in grade school. He lived by himself until he couldn't see well enough to take care of himself and caught his house on fire. He got that put out, but he went to live with my Grandma Mary for a little while. Not sure how long he stayed there. Anyway, he lived with my sister Ginger for quite a while too, and then us. Our grandpa had been estranged from our family for years and lived in Washington State, so for me at least, I think I thought of Uncle Bill as my grandpa. I mean I knew he was my great uncle and called him Uncle Bill, but in my feelings he took the place of my grandpa...I guess, oh I just loved him, uncle or grandpa or whatever.
Well he had arteriosclerosis and would go out of his head sometimes and believe he was out west, panning for gold, which he really had spent time doing in his younger years, and would think an old camp dog was in his room and beat at the floor with his cane. He progressively got worse so Mom and Dad made the decision to put him in the rest home in Forsyth. I don't know how long he stayed there before he died, probably a couple of years.
He died on September 20, 1970. I still remember the phone ringing and Dad talking to them and then telling us Uncle Bill had died. It was the first person that died that I was close to and I still remember crying and crying.
His funeral was at the Bradleyville Baptist Church and Burl and Helen and two more (I don't remember who but will try to find out) sang the songs. One of the songs they sang was Farther Along. It touched me greatly when I heard them sing it, and it is still one of my favorite songs.
I included Farther Along in the memorial I made for my dad when he passed away. I used the version by Johnny Cash and it is one of my favorites too.
It is the first song I ever sang at church for a special. I was so nervous, and thought I sung it right, and then Pastor Jeff said thank you for that song, he admired me to get up and sing a song I didn't know the tune to....so I guess I didn't sing it right...anyway, still one of my all time favorite songs.
Here is the version I used in Dad's memorial, Johnny Cash singing....
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