Today marks the ninth anniversary of my dad’s death. I am choosing to reflect on who he was and how his life impacted me.
I can still remember those last three weeks of being by his side as the cancer had eaten away at his pancreas. Those were difficult days.
His girlfriend called and said you need to come. I grabbed some clothes and jumped on a plane. He lived in Flint, Michigan and I lived in Arkadelphia, Arkansas at that time. He had been in and out of hospitals and was in a lot of pain. I got off the plane ✈️ and went straight to the hospital. Three weeks later he was gone...... at the age of 69.
Today, I want to use this virtual space to remember him and share a few things about him.
My Dad...
▶️Worked for General Motors for 40 years before retiring in 2004. He was a hard worker.
▶️Was a quiet person. He would often communicate better when he had some “oil” in him.
▶️He Loved all sports but baseball was his favorite.
▶️He played baseball recreationally until age 40 when his knees began to say stop.
▶️He lived a simple life.
▶️He was an only child.
▶️He never missed a child support payment for me and my brother and If I called and needed anything he would send what he could.
▶️He and my mom had a good relationship post separation and divorce. I never saw them argue or hear them talk bad about each other.
▶️I only saw my dad once per year. This would be during the 2nd of August/Peake High Reunions in Arkadelphia, Arkansas where he was raised and graduated from High School. This was not enough as a young girl growing up.
▶️My dad played his “numbers” (lottery) every week at a local convenience store.
▶️He loved listening to the 🎶blues. Johnny Taylor was one of his favorites.
▶️My dad was 6’4” and was a large guy until the later years when he began to slim down.
▶️He played football 🏈 for Peake High School (All black school in Arkadephia, AR) and was recruited to play college ball for AM&N NKA UAPB. He dropped out of college to go to work after my mother became pregnant with my brother, Stanley Wayne Stephens (2008). They were married by Rev. A. W. Terry and moved to Flint.
▶️I was always told his biological dad, Joe Manning Stephens, died when he was two. When folks die, we find out all sorts of family secrets. The details of this wiIl have to be in my autobiography. 🤷🏽♀️ Stop...we all have some family secrets. Stop acting like you don’t. 😂
▶️He was my daddy and I loved him. He loved me. No, he didn’t raise me and he wasn’t there much but he was always a phone call away and a part of my life.
▶️His mother, Delia Mae Zachary Stephens (1986), raised me and was my heart. The unconditional love she showed me and all she met was incredible and a wonderful example for me and others.
▶️My dad marched in Selma with Rev. A.W. Terry in 1965
▶️He was a kind man and always treated people with respect and kindness.
I heard a preacher say, “parents aren’t perfect people.” My Dad did what he had the capacity to do and I’m grateful to God for his life. If there was no him, there would be no me.
May he continue to rest peacefully.
September 18, 1945 - April 26, 2015
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