My Dad is my hero. He has shown me all my life that you don’t have to look like everyone else or do things just how everyone else does them. He has lived his life, almost 71 years at present time, in a wheelchair. He has never taken a single step, but worked a 40 hr a week job to raise his family.
You have to go back further to really appreciate how amazing Jimmy Roberts is. He was born with osteo-genesis-imperfecta, which is a brittle bone disease. He had over 250 broken bones throughout his childhood and teenage years. He was unable to have a formal education, because of physical obstacles. He had 2 and a half years of public education. The rest of his learning came from reading at home, sometimes simply pulling out cans from under the cabinet and reading the labels.
When he was 16 years old, Jimmy gave heart to The Lord and since that day, he has never had another broken bone. When people heard that he wasn’t breaking anymore and may just live afterall, they decided they better see about what to do to help him. They gave him a test to see where they would have to place him in school… he scored off the charts! They said it would be a waste of time to put him with his age group in school, so they placed him second year in business college. He graduated from college the same month that his age class was graduating from high school.
Jimmy went to work the day after he graduated at CAM Corp in Chatom, AL and soon became Office Manager. He worked there for 40 years. He married Debbie Napp when he was 25 years old. They had three children, Aimee, Tim and Scott. Aimee lived for 5 weeks on this earth and has spent the past 45 years in Heaven. Jimmy and Debbie did everything they could to raise Tim and me right. They couldn’t give us everything that money could buy, but they gave us a lot that money can’t.
Along with working 40 hours a week, Dad also gave his life and time to traveling with Gospel groups on the weekends, playing piano. He instilled a love for music in me that has helped to shape my life into what it is. I always wanted to play just like him. I can remember playing Journeymen Records and even eight tracks, trying to match him note for note.
He is unable to purchase clothes off the rack to fit him, so he makes everything he wears. From suits to liesure wear, it comes from a bolt of material, to his sewing machines, to his back. This is a huge blessing to me as well, because even though I buy my clothes, he remakes them to fit me.
As you can tell, I’m a very proud son. Not only because of his working to provide for us or instilling the love of music, but most of all, living a Godly life before me. He showed me that even when things are tough, God is our refuge. I am so thankful for my Dad, and I pray that I can be half the man he is.
