Jordan Perelle (JP): I’ve heard you say before, “I walk by a mirror and I think it’s my father”. 

Tom Badgett (TB): I do It’s creepy sometimes [laughs]

JP: So, tell me about him. 

TB: Well, he was the president of a major community bank, but If I were to try to summarize his overall personality when I was young, I’d have to say distant. I remember mother saying, “He was a good provider, but he never changed a diaper and never fed a kid.”  He came home from work and went straight to a bottle. 

He was drunk, really drunk, a lot of the time. I remember him going out in the backyard and kind of falling down and going to sleep in the middle of the day on Saturday.  And, when I was nine. I’m in the garage, and there’s this blanket over something in my wagon. And I pulled the blanket aside and it’s my neighbor’s mailbox. Well, dad came home late and he made the curve a little long and took the mailbox with him. 

JP: So, do you have a memory of a time where he really came through for you? 

TB: Yeah. It’s a Sunday morning, and he says, “Let’s go take a drive.” We’re driving in his ‘56 Ford, I’ve got to be 15. And he says, “You want to drive?” Now, why that’s funny is, a couple of months before, mother and dad go to Florida and leave me there because I’m in school. And I teach myself to drive his car. And he knew that, of course. 

JP: I wondered. [laughs]

TB: I said. “Uh, buh, ya…uh Okay, I’ll drive.” Well, we met a car and he said, “Always look to the side of the road. Look where you want to go, not what you’re trying to avoid.” And that rings in my ears every time I try to make a decision. Look where you want to go. 

JP: Hmm

JP: After he died, what did you learn about him that surprised you?

TB: I came in for the funeral and people are coming in and saying “you’re dad’s going to be missed” or “I can’t tell you how thankful I am, what your dad did for me when, uh, he was at the bank.” 

But one guy, obviously a farmer, I mean, he was at his funeral, wearing overalls, boots, beard. He takes my hand and he said, “you know, your dad knew I couldn’t afford that loan. But he gave it to me anyway, and I paid back every goddamn penny of it.” And that stuck with me. Because We didn’t always see that level of care at home. But as I look back, he was there in the way he could be. 

JP: hmmm

TB: We are the sum of all of our parts.