I truly can remember back as far as about 1987 in my life. I was born in 1983 so I was around 4 years old. My earliest memories of my dad was of him taking me and my older brothers and sisters fishing. I am the youngest of 8 children, so this was significant to me. My dad was the best fisherman I had ever met. We didn’t have much money growing up, so when we fished we did it not for sport, but to eat. My mom had a garden and kept fresh vegetables to cook. My father worked 2-3 jobs just to meet the basic necessities of life. We rarely went out to eat and even more rarely went anywhere outside our town. As I grew up I watched my dad work so hard with our family based cleaning business. My dad built his business in the late 80’s and early 90’s through hard work. My father was such an example of a strong man, not only to his 8 kids but his 25 grandchildren, 5 great grandchildren, my friends at school, the church and the community. He loved my mom more than life itself. They were married for 47 years! My dad is my hero because despite his mistakes he proved that you don’t have to be a perfect man to be a darn good one! Growing up I remember my father taking us to the drive-in movie theater because it was much cheaper and they had better food than the traditional cinema. He sacrificed to purchase our family the Nintendo Entertainment System and other forms of entertainment when he really didn’t have the money. He played football with us in the back yard. He took us to the Blockbuster video store on Friday nights to check out the latest new releases on VHS. He showed us how to have simple fun and save money through visits to the parks and picnics at nearby lakes. My love of all types of music came from him. To this day I love and appreciate every type of music, from folk to hip-hop, from 70’s and 80’s soft rock to contemporary Christian. My love for sports came from our family sitting in his room watching football and wrestling. Our family was and still are diehard Carolina Panthers fans (Being that we are from North Carolina). But before the Panthers came into the NFL in 1995, all of us loved the San Fransisco 49ers since I could remember (except my brother Deshawn who has always been a Cowboys fan). I’m talking the Joe Montana, Jerry Rice 49ers. I remember the funny talks my pop had with my brothers and sisters. I remember the political debates between him and my mom in the 1988 and 1992 presidential elections (my mom being a moderate republican and my dad being a traditional Kennedy Democrat at that time). Then after their debate I can see my dad hugging my mom and giving her a kiss and a sarcastic “You don’t know what you’re talking about, but i love you anyway.” 🙂 He taught us all how to never give up! His marriage was a testament to that. Through example he taught me how to love and support my wife and our 4 children. As I sit here with tears in my eyes still finding it hard to believe my pop is gone, I cant help but reminisce on the times we had. Most importantly, my dad loved His Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He gave his life to Jesus about 7 or 8 years ago, so i find comfort in knowing that my dad is in the best place, Heaven. Rest in peace to my hero, my dad, my best friend Edward T. Price.
V.R.
If this post moved you, my music carries the same heart. Listen to my latest Christian hip-hop releases:
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