Searching for Daddy

Pamela Tharp Thompson has an authentic southern voice that flows across the pages of her debut memoir Searching for Daddy as naturally as buttermilk cornbread and fried green tomatoes on a Sunday afternoon in the South. Thompson reminisces growing up with her father, a Deputy Sheriff, who scared off more boyfriends than she can count.When Alzheimer's comes to call in his later years, Thompson and her family are forced to swap roles with a man who she has always seen as larger than life through her eyes. Not only quick with a gun, Jim Tharp, Korean Veteran, Shriner, Mason, and lawman was also quick to tell anyone that would listen, "Don't mess with me or mine and we'll get along just fine."A craftily blended narrative between mother and daughter share bitter-sweet memories throughout a day's drive to visit Jim at the Bill Nichols State Veterans Home in Alexander City, Alabama. Thompson cleverly portrays overall themes of family relationships, aging parents, caregiving, and the life-changing effects of Alzheimer's Disease.