Livin’ Wella was inspired by my dad, a fervent Christian who valued family and friends, and who worked to create times for family to be together, laughing and enjoying his jokes or eating homemade peach ice cream

Dad died after a 30-month battle with leukemia.  Thru the 15 rounds of chemo to the stem cell transplant, he was a warrior.  He attacked the disease the same way he attacked the task of starting his business 40 years ago.  He made it a priority to get well, for himself. But as I look back, I think it was for the three of us, his kids, and for his grandkids.

As a business man, he was generous with money, with advice when asked, and he set a standard with his faithful Godliness as the example for all of his many employees.  He handed out cash when Oklahoma tornadoes took homes, he was generous with his church when the building needed expanded, and he was generous with us.

Dad’s trademark was ‘Wella.”  When Thanksgiving or Christmas lunch was over, and plates were empty, he would tap his hand on the table and say “Wella.”  His signal that all was good, and dinner was over.  When we left church, he would grab my mom’s hand, and say “Wella.”  That meant it was time for her to quit talking to everyone in the building and leave.

So when we bought the Fairhope house, and saw that all the houses on the bay had quaint signs with cute names, we knew what ours had to be:  Livin’ Wella.  It reminds us of dad, and how he valued quiet times of reflection, and the fun laughs of family.  It reminds us that God is great, and family is the focus.  Livin’ Wella keeps his example alive, and reminds us to live like the man who said “Wella.”  We miss you, Dad.