COLUMN: If you will indulge me, a tribute to my brother-in-law on Independence Day

Independence Day is another holiday when I count my blessings for so many things – the health and love of my family and friends, the fact I can earn a living doing something I love thanks to you, living in America (warts and all), and so many other things.

I know Memorial Day honors the brave American soldiers who died defending this country and I know we also have Veterans Day every November 11th that recognizes and honors soldiers who served and are living, but there is someone I’d like to thank who I think of a lot on July 4th and this Independence Day for some odd reason I have not been able to define.

This is non-Ole Miss fodder, so if you will indulge me, thank you.

My brother-in-law, Jim Sturgill, is among the finest men I have ever met. I have been blessed to have been influenced by some wonderful role models and Jim is at the top of that list.

Jim, who hails from Knoxville, Tennessee, is the oldest of his family and has always been somewhat of a caretaker and the glue of the Sturgills as long as I have known him – over 50 years. He is the patriarch of my immediate family as well.

After serving in Vietnam with the Marines, Jim earned a degree from Memphis State where he met my sister, Lynn, a single mother whose first marriage didn’t take, but resulted in a son.

When Jim and Lynn got married, Jim moved into the role of hands-on stepfather to my nephew, Jon Charles. Jim always treated Jon Charles like his own son, but encouraged him to stay close to his biological father also, which he did.

Jim started a successful business in Tunica, Mississippi where my family had some roots. Among other things, he owned and operated a tire store – Delta Tire & Alignment – that is still going strong serving Tunica county residents and all the tire needs of local farmers to this day some 40 years since Jim launched the venture.

In his spare time, Jim was awarded the Silver Beaver by the Boy Scouts of America for “exceptional character and distinguished service within a Boy Scouts’ council.” Those are not given; they are earned.

Jim has been and remains a loyal husband to my sister for over 50 years, is a wonderful father figure to my nephew, a doting and loving grandfather to Jon Charles’ two children, a loving brother, as good a friend as anyone could have the privilege of having, a devout Catholic, and a brother-in-law who set an example of how to be a good human being to a young man (me) whose own father passed away too early and absolutely needed that type of guidance.

I have certainly not lived up to the standard Jim set, but it was always a goal in the back of my mind and whenever I reached a crossroad in life, it never failed. I always asked myself “how would Jim handle this?” If I followed his path, I knew it would be the right one to take.

The bar Jim set of right and wrong and of integrity and character was something I could only aspire to, but whatever traits I have of Jim’s, I got because of his example.

Yes, I know Memorial Day is for veterans who gave their lives and I would never do anything to dishonor that, and Veteran’s Day is when I should be doing this, but Jim is who I think of on Independence Day and who I thank.

Thanks for indulging me with this clumsy tribute.

I love Jim Sturgill and I thank God for him and for everything he has done for me and for my family.

I hope your Independence Day is filled with great memories of those you love, living or deceased, too, and I hope you give them a thank you for the influence they have had on your life.