Dear Dad,

I miss you every day. Your prayer rings in my ears: “Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord” (Psalm 130:1). There were low points in your life, and they started very early on. No little boy should ever be physically and psychologically abused and then suffer throughout life because of it. But you battled back every time. God lifted you out of the depths with love and support from others.

You told me you prayed regularly that God would raise up a new Nelson generation. Did he tell you? He did. We all remember you with great affection. I know you doubted if you were worthy of anyone’s love, including God’s. Grace was a difficult thing for you to accept. Yet you managed to be incredibly loving every time you came out of the depths. You were a complicated character and could be a bit volatile. But you had an uncommon ability to be honest about yourself and sniff out dishonesty in others. I thank you for that gift.

You had so little to call your own but were very generous. You could be friendly to a fault. There were no strangers in your world. You always made unimportant people feel important because you could relate to them. I guess you understood grace after all. I am trying to pick up where you left off.

Dad, I miss you every day. Your prayer rings in my ears.

—Jason