I guess everybody has different ways of grieving. I was so busy working on arrangements for my father that the reality of him no longer being here on Earth with us hit last night. I think I cried every ounce of liquid in my body out last night because my eyes were so swollen I could barely open them this morning. I ask myself, Could I have done more to help him? Why did I go take a shower Saturday morning and leave his side for just 15 minutes? Im hard on myself. But, I know hes out of pain and is in Heaven rejoicing with my brother, Fiddler, Myers, Glennen, Pearce, and a host of others whom he talked about a lot, especially his last week of life. Thank each and every one of you who have said a prayer, called, visited, brought food or beautiful flowers or plants, and said kind words about my father. Thank you to the First Baptist Church of Bristol and Todd Wahlquist of Bevis Funeral Home for making everything perfect. Ken, Georgia, Will and Russell Hosford couldnt have done a finer job singing, and Adronna Anderson Kombrinck played beautifully. Brother Roger Phillips, Brother John McDaniel, Tim Revell, and Tony Anderson touched everyone with their messages and tributes to my father. Two weeks before he passed away he asked me to get some yearbooks out. We spent nearly 12 hours throughout the day going through them and him telling me about most every student in there. It amazed me that he knew them all and had a story about each person in each yearbook! His eyes lit up when hed get to the sports pages AND the cheerleaders! Of his 40 years as a teacher, Principal, Superintendent and coach, I know that coaching was what he loved most. I knew every, single player or trainer from the years of 1967 through about 1972. He talked about them so much, and even though I was only 6 to 12-years-old, I remember them and know their stories because Daddy talked about them so often. A week before my father died he thanked me for being home with him and said, When I go youve got to get back to work. What are you going to do? I told him that I truly didnt know. He said, Do what youre good at and what you enjoy, and thats working with children. Your job is education isnt done. Please help get that field house and high school done out there on that same quadrant like we talked about. Make that facility the pride of the Panhandle like it was when we built it. Let the students know you love them. Make sure every, single student at that high school has a part in an extra curricular activity and can go to ballgames some way, even if you have to pay for it yourself. These were all things he told me when I first became elected as Superintendent, and I guess he felt the need to tell me that again. He wanted to go to the first ballgame this season so badly, but was in pain and I felt he couldnt go. I wish now I wouldve taken him. Oh, and he said, Always, always, refer to our high school as Liberty County, not Bristol High because we have kids from Sumatra, Hosford, Telogia, Rock Bluff, Orange, and all over coming there. Never just be about garnet and gold: remember Hosford Panther blue, too. When selecting his flowers for his casket piece, I made sure to include garnet, gold and blue. It seemed an odd combination, but they were beautiful!!! I know that my father wouldve been proud yesterday for the stories and tributes about him, the over 500 people there to honor him, and his entire family eating together later in the church gym which he helped get built. He wouldve loved seeing his Gregory Girls, Mrs. Anita, Mrs. Shirley, Mrs. Eleanor, and others there with the delicious food they prepared for us. Jerry Johnson loved every student he reached and made them feel special. He loved my mom, my brothers and me. Youd better believe his highlights were his grand children and great grandson. His last words to me Friday night before he passed away on Saturday were, Gay, are all the kids in the house safely? He lived a beautiful life.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 13:27:51 +0000
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