So many use dad's name, saying 'Johnny Cash would not like this' or 'Johnny Cash would do this' or 'Johnny Cash would vote for... ' Please, let his actions speak for who he was: A simple, loving man who never supported hate or bigotry. He was non-political, and a patriot with no public political party affiliation.
Mom was very protective of me. Her hands were gentle, and her touch was soothing. She always talked quite a bit, but she was bright and affectionate.
Right before my dad died he was planning to go to New York City for the video music awards that he was nominated for, the MTV music awards. You couldn't tell him he wasn't going to go. It was going to happen. But he wound up having to check into the hospital there, and not too long later he died. But his spirit never gave up - his body did.
My father's special gift? I think for one it was his gentleness. The way that he could offer a heart in any given situation.
When I was young, my mother said to me, 'Momma loves her little son.' Now, this tender endearment holds a firm meaning within my life, inside my spirit. It reminds me that in sharing love, it grows that much greater in our hearts.
I can't think of another artist who has a fan base as diverse, in that the ladies in their 70s at the 4-H club have the same collection of Johnny Cash records as the punk on the street in Amsterdam.
Voice of the Spirit' was a project I'd been talking about for a long time. It began as an Appalachian record. But it's a record of all pure Southern gospel.
My parents were on the road a lot in the 1970s. Winifred Kelly, a nurse from the hospital where I was born, was hired to care for me. Her love and discipline had a big influence on my upbringing.
The poem that became the song 'Gold All Over the Ground' was written during 1967, when my dad was really falling in love with my mother.
Along with the music, there is a large part of my father's legacy that has to do with what he had to say. What he believed in, what he stood for, the understanding of his own darkness, the faith that he had that drove him, and the great love that he had for people.
When I began looking into the Carter catalog and came across 'Will My Mother Know Me There,' it seemed like such a joyful number and such a song of the spirit that I could hear them all singing it together.
My mother did a fried vegetable dish called 'stuff.' It's fried potatoes and carrots. Then you add bell peppers, mushrooms and other softer vegetables. At the end you add onion. Then, you steam the dish with hot pepper cheese on the top and it melts down through the dish. It's delicious. It's wonderful.
My dad was a poet. He saw the world through unique glasses, with simplicity, spirituality, and humor.
My father's favorite poem was probably 'Love is patient, love is kind.' It's simply stated but pretty profound. That's how my dad wrote.
There are thousands upon thousands of new Johnny Cash fans every year, inspired by the music, talent, and - I believe hugely - by the mystery of the man.
If you were going through your attic and found a Van Gogh, what would you do? You wouldn't put it in your bathroom; you'd want to share it with the world because you know people will love it.
I always heard my dad talk about playing music right through till the end. He may have talked in the early 90s about how he was ready to get off the road. But retirement, for my dad wasn't part of his make-up.
I believe Dad will be respected in 300 years, like Beethoven. As will Elvis, as will the Carter Family, as will Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams.
Seeing my father's handwriting puts me in contact with the man he was at each stage of his life.
I try to weigh out the dark and the light. They were both very real aspects of my Dad. To me, the good and the healing and the light outweigh the dark so much, and that's why I focus on the good.
