Remembering My Daddy

I have been thinking about my Dad alot lately. I'm not sure why, maybe its the holidays. I go through periods where I really don't think about him much, but then its like this. I sometimes wonder how my life would have turned out if he had survived and how he much he'd love Cullen and Ansley. He died when I was 7 yrs old and I have only a handful of memories of him. I wish I knew and remembered the silly side that everyone talks about. But, I'd like to share with you what I do know.

• His name was Timothy Lee Barrett, youngest child of George and Ruth.


• At 19, he owned his own business, Barrett's Electric, an appliance store and he was an electrician.


• My mom first saw him in Tennessee Magazine, where they did an article on him. He had won some award and they talked about how young he was to own a business. She said he was so cute and she had to meet him.
  
  
• He loved Dayona beach and he owned a sailboat.



• He was 21 when I was born.



• He called me "Ginny-Root"



• He was a smoker,had the bluest eyes you have ever seen, stood about 5'6'' and had auburn hair, like me.



• He built the only house he'd ever own at age 21



• I remember one fun night at home when my Mom made chili and Daddy came home. He and I sat at the bar and ate, then watched Greatest American Hero on TV.



• His hands were very rough and callused, but I loved holding them anyway.
  
  
• He was a fun-loving guy, and was a friend to everyone.



• He liked Lynard Skynard and Hewey Lewis and the News



• At his funeral, it was standing room only. They opened the doors in the back of the chapel so people could listen from outside.




• I don't know if he was a Christian. He didn't go to church, but one man says he prayed with my dad to be saved at his home. I don't know if that's accurate.



• He had a full set of dentures when he was 26.



• One memory I have is riding in his new car, which was copper colored, and telling him we were riding in a penny. Before that, he drove a yellow Datsun truck.



• I remember our last Christmas together, at my Grandparent's house and it snowed.



• I was with him the weekend before he died (my parent's were divorced). He had what seemed like a cold, and his cough medicine was between the seats in his car. I remember telling him to take his medicine so he'll get well.



• That same weekend I had so much anxiety. I remember standing in the bathroom while he took a shower, just staring at the shower curtain and foggy mirror. The thought "what would I do if my Daddy was gone?" went through my mind. I had butterflies in my stomach and I couldn't eat my Fruity Pebbles. It's wierd I experienced that because I was only 7. I just can hear him say "What's wrong, Ginny Root? Why don't you go eat your cereal?" I'm sure it bugged him that I was in there, and I never told him what I was thinking.



• That same day, we went to the barber shop. I remember watching him get his hair cut, and thinking the same thing. Later, he got so sick he couldn't take me home. It was about an hour drive, so he had his cousin drive me to my mom's house.



• He died at age 28 from pnuemonia on a Monday morning at 5:30am, January 6, 1986.