Remembering my Daddy – seven years later

Last Sunday, Feb. 17, marked seven years since the day I sat and held my Daddy’s hand and watched as he took his last breath, on this Earth. As my heart broke into a million pieces, I watched the strongest man I ever knew slip away from me.
I loved my Daddy with all my heart. He was truly the love of my life, my confidant, my mentor, my hero and “my everything.”
He would always laugh and say he only graduated high school because he had my Mom to help him with his homework and tests. He was a college drop-out, dyslexic and had a hard time reading. But, that dyslexic college dropout – my father - was the smartest and wisest man I ever knew!
He woke up every morning and challenged himself to be the best that he could be; every day of his life!
He went on to own a chain of five newspapers in North Florida, an office supply store, a meat processing plant, a farm, was President of the Florida Press Association, and published four books. But, his outlook on life and the life lessons he taught us were FAR beyond anything I ever learned in school or from anyone else.
From a very young age, we were taught to work … and work hard! We were awoken with the rising sun to go work on the farm, and we worked hard. We climbed off the school bus every day – and we went to work! If we weren’t on the farm we were at the newspaper, and we worked hard. We were taught that “It don’t rain on Harvey Greene Hill.” Which meant, rain or shine, we got up and we went to work. If we had friends over for the day/weekend then they got up and they went to work, also.
We were taught to never say the word “can’t.” It was not allowed in our diction. If we ever said the word “can’t” we had to restructure our sentence and re-word it so that the word “can’t” was not used; for we were always taught that we COULD do anything that we put our minds to.
Above our basketball goal, at home, was a sign that read, “Quitters Never Win and Winners Never Quit.” That same sign now hangs above the doorway of my Madison newspaper office.
Daddy also always taught us that there is nothing worse than a thief or a liar. We got in trouble when we did something out of line – but oh how much worse the end result was if we lied about it. We got a beating when we did wrong, but we always knew to confess to what we did; because the beating was 10 times worse if we lied about it.
Honesty and integrity were instilled in us, at a very young age; we were always taught “A man is only as good as his word.”
Other life lessons included “Always act like a lady,” “Always put God, family and country first,” “Whatever you do today, you will have to live with tomorrow,” “You’ve got to stand for something, or you’ll fall for anything,” “Respect your elders” and “Respect other people’s personal property.”
From him, I grew my strong backbone and was taught to have “alligator hide” in this business.
My father was a great businessman and I was taught, very early in life, how to save money and handle a budget. I would like to think I inherited (some of) his business mind and his life’s aggression to always strive for better. However, I must admit that my mother taught me one of the most essential lessons in life – if Daddy said no (to that beautiful doll I wanted so badly) all I had to do was go hug his neck, kiss him, and tell him how much I loved him – and I got the doll!
As I grew up, he was at every dance recital, piano recital, pageant, and sports event that I had. As an adult, we enjoyed long talks (whether business or personal), dinner and supper dates, and he (and my Mother) attended all my daughters’ extracurricular activities. I called on my Daddy to answer all of my life’s questions that I couldn’t answer alone. He was always by my side to take care of me and help me learn and grow (even as an adult).
A father/daughter love is a love that only a few can understand. It is the kind of bond that makes seven years seem like an eternity, and yet at the same time makes the hurt seem just like yesterday!
So, hold fast to your loved ones. For you never know when you too will wish you had just one more day!
I Love You, Daddy!
I’ll See You Again One Day, On The Other Side!