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Saturday, May 14, 2016

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Today is my daddy’s 69th birthday.  It’s hard to believe he’s been gone 5 months.  I miss him every single day, but at the same time, I forget he is gone.  If that statement doesn’t make sense to you, then you probably haven’t ever lost someone you loved with all your heart. 

Last week was especially hard for me.  I was trying to get ready for Mother’s Day and that’s something Daddy would always end up helping with.  As I would mentally make/check off lists in my head, I kept catching myself thinking, “I’ll get Daddy to bring the tables and chairs over” or “I’ll ask Daddy to run to Corum’s and get me some mulch”.  Of course, as soon as the thought hit me, I’d feel like somebody kicked me in the stomach. 

We played a song at the funeral called “STRONG”.  It’s by Will Hoge.  You should Google or YouTube it.  Here are a few of the lyrics:

He’s a twenty year straight to get to work on time
He’s a love one woman for all his life
He’s a shirt off his back, give you his last dime
He’s strong…
He’s a need to move something, you can use my truck
He’s an overtime worker when the bills pile up
Everybody knows he ain’t just tough
He’s strong…
He’ll pick up you up and won’t let you down
Rock solid inside out
Somebody you can trust
Steady as the sun
Ain’t nothing gonna knock him off the road he’s rolling on
He’s strong…

When we were listening to songs to play and we heard this one, I think we all just felt like it was perfect.  Except I believe he was a 35-year straight get to work on time, and I didn’t realize at the time that this song was actually used in a Chevrolet commercial.  I don’t know how Daddy would feel about that since he was a pretty hard core Ford man.  Sorry, Daddy.

I started thinking yesterday about doing a birthday blog and so I asked the little girls what the remembered most about Pappaw.

Yuri said she remembers that he could whistle really loud.  (Loud, as in bust your eardrums. It was pretty annoying actually)

Gigi said she remembers that he would come in from outside and his hands would be freezing cold and he would chase her around trying to put his cold hands on her.

Aubree remembers that he always gave her “yellow” gum (Juicy Fruit).  I try to buy yellow gum nowadays, to keep that memory alive for her. 

If he was here, he wouldn’t want us to make a big deal about his birthday.  That’s just how he was – didn’t like the attention.  And if we bought him a gift, he’d sneak money into the pockets of all the grandkids before they left to pay us back for whatever we got him. 


Happy Birthday, Daddy.  You are loved and you are missed.