My Heart is Restless Until It Rests in Thee

This is a tribute to my dad, Gene Baldwin. Although he invested 60+ weekly hours building a successful retail business in rural Arkansas, he was never too busy for his family, especially his children. As a child, I tagged along with him everywhere, even spending days with him at the store where I would cut hearts out of the paper sacks meant for merchandise purchases. An excellent conversationalist and a great listener, I depended on his sound advice and wisdom growing up and on into adulthood. In 2017 he suffered a stroke, and, though released with a clean bill of health, soon after began showing signs of dementia. He was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2022, and his decline is evident. I love this new version of Gene, how his face lights up when I come visit, but I would be lying if I said that I didn’t miss my dad.

Used by permission of the artist.