When I was five years old, I would stand on your feet and dance with you. The view was always better from on top of your shoulders. Your bed was the safest place during a bad thunderstorm. If I got sick in the middle of the night, I'd call your name until you came.
When I was seven/eight I was a cheerleader for the peewee football team you loved to coach. And when I was nine/ten, I would stand with you on the sidelines as you coached that team because cheerleading just wasn't for me. I was my daddy's little girl, and if I was gonna be on the sidelines I wasn't gonna be wearing a skirt, I was gonna be beside you.
When I was thirteen, we would go see a movie every afternoon after church. And after that, we would go to the airport viewing deck to watch the planes take off and land. A well known monthly visitor started to intrude on our times together... so I became harder to put up with, I'm sure.
When I was fifteen you started teaching me how to drive. I no longer wanted to cuddle with you in the early mornings before school, but you still got up to see me off. It didn't really matter when your last shift had ended.
When I was sixteen, I got my license and was gone all the time with friends. Boy started calling the house. I was settling into my junior year of highschool...
When I was seventeen, my life got knocked upside down. Your heart stopped unexpectedly, and for a long time afterwards, it felt as if mine would surely stop too. Having your name engraved on this memorial wall for fallen officers...that makes you this nation's hero...but all these memories make you my hero. I remember running your truck into the garage wall. I remember you prayed at the side of my bed every night before I went to sleep. I remember you said I wasn't allowed to date until I was 30. I remember going to Fat Daddys all the time on Sunday nights after church. I remember when you got season tickets to the Duke basketball games... and we would go together. You would have loved JJ Redick, by the way. I was on crutches when you died, and I remember the day you passed away you were teaching me how to walk on them. I had never had them before. You carried me down the stairs before you left for work... and never came home. I remember when you watched "A Walk To Remember" with me everyday for about a week.
If I had've known that I would only have seventeen years with you... I would have made each day count more than the last. I guess we did the best we could under the circumstances. You were the best dad. You were the greatest man I've ever known.
I'm 19 now. I just finished my first year of college at Meredith, which by the way was my first choice. I want to be a writer. My first book will be all about my hero... you. |
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Officer's Name: Billy Thomas Gregory
Officer's Dept.: Durham Police Department
City: Durham, NC
End of Watch: April 24, 2004
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