My father, William Joe Adkins, will have his Deacon Quorum Questioning today. Something he's been studying for during the last few weeks. After today, he will be deemed officially a deacon at Golden Leaf Baptist Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. My father is an interesting man: A retired truck driver, he's well-traveled and has a low tolerance for bullshit. In his youth he was considered quite handsome and a very good dresser [those components still exist today]. His friends range from neurotic divorcees to musicians to police officers to big jolly men from Alabama who have been rumored to kill for family—literally. He's a great story teller as well. He's able to spin the most bizarre heat to the simplest event: Like the time he called me and said his Uncle Esper died of the fan. I remembered feeling Wow, the Fan? Uncle Esper was an extremely healthy 99 year old living in Atlanta. Who had a girlfriend and lived alone. A decade ago, during one of those Atlanta heatwaves, Uncle Esper fell asleep with the fan blowing, caught pneumonia and died.

My father is also Baptist. His parents were Baptists. His father, the late-Reverend Clarence Adkins, moved to Cincinnati from Crawfordville, Georgia around 1942 to work for General Electric [then maker of war plane engines]. Shortly after that, a wave of other Adkins migrated to Cincinnati in search of better employment and to rid the racist limits of their rural Georgia homes. Not long after, Clarence built his very own church. Golden Leaf Missionary Baptist. It became spiritual and social sanctuary for many migrating Adkins, and later a church home for many others.

After my grandfather passed away in the mid '70s, his nephew Carl took over as pastor of Golden Leaf and several years after that Carl sold my grandfather's small church and rebuilt a much larger one on the other side of town. Most of the original members followed [mostly of the Adkins clan], and new members joined. Quadrupling Golden Leaf's size.

The thing about Golden Leaf Baptist Church is the Adkins are considered royalty. A large picture of my grandfather—known for his wisdom and warmth and generosity, hangs on a wall in a room dedicated just to him. My grandmother was first lady of the church. The Deacon Board were mostly Adkins. The Ushers. The choir; the children creating havoc in the basement. And although I grew up 80 percent Catholic, whenever I attended Golden Leaf with my father or his mother, I was embraced and kissed like I was a prince.

I say all of this to say: my father being deacon at Golden Leaf is an amazing and honorary thing. Yes, it definitely adds a new level to my father's multi-layered life. But for him, I think it's more about reaching a level of Christian respect. And about sashaying his Adkins royalty. He IS the middle son of the late-Reverend Clarence, father of Golden Leaf. His mother WAS first lady. And now he's FIRST cousin is pastor.

I don't follow the religious ways of my father and his family [or my mother's family]. I believe in a Divine Power. And although I understand the language and culture of the Bible-belt, I am not Christian. By choice.

But I am happy for my father today. This means a lot to him. He's Golden Leaf royalty after all, and deserves the highest prestige available. My father is wise, warm and very generous. And I know he's told me he and his father weren't very close, I wonder if he can see himself in Reverend Clarence's legacy. I'm sure if the late-Reverend Clarence Adkins were alive today he would see it. He would be very proud of his middle son. Not just for becoming deacon of the church he built, for understanding legacy, but even more for carving out a life even bigger than the Reverend dreamed the day he left Crawfordville, Georgia.

Good luck, Dad!

Until next time,

Keith