Page 12 - R.E.DEAN MEMORIAL BOOK

I was told that as a baby whenever I saw you leaving, I would cry after you. As I baby, I didn’t
understand that you were only gone for a little while but would be back. It got to the point that mom
would try to not let me see you leave.

There are so many fond memories of you. Yes I was the favorite and every-
one knew it. LOL. I was your One and Only daughter for almost 40 years
(Then Tammy came).
I remember you telling us stories when you took us fishing or when we were
roasting corn in the back yard. I remember the times you would take us
riding to pick seagrapes and coco plums. In our younger years you took us to
the Beach and to the Fort where you taught us how to fly kites.

I remember the many times you took us to church even though we were often the first ones there,
you taught us the importance of being in God’s house. You taught us about dedication (service to
God and Ministry), commitment,( your word is your bond, 1 woman,) The value of time (If a
function/meeting is 7.30, you arrive early no later than 7.15). You taught us about discipline and the
consequences of our actions. I still have the Bible you gave me in 1978 for Father’s Day where you
reminded me to Seek first the Kingdom of God.

When you retired and had more time on your hands, You would cook and bring me and Gay Soup,
Guava Duff for our Lunch at work.. You would bring me seagrapes, strawberries and cut up cane.
When I was married, you would drop by the house to bring me boiled crab and dough.
When I began directing the Youth Choir and became the Minister of Music and Fine Arts for Faith
Temple you were so proud of me to be following in your footsteps. To my knowledge, we were the
only Father and Daughter to hold the same title at the same time in the Bahamas.

Daaaad you where my Knight in shining armor. You loved me so much that
you left your house at 1am in the morning to come to my house to catch a
lizard that was in my Bedroom (It was those big salamanders). It may be silly
to some, but your daughters’ piece of mind was important to you.

You were not perfect as no man can be but you were good enough for me.
You were a good, good Father that’s who you are and I was loved by you.

It was a joy and pleasure to take care of you and mom. Yes at times after you already called me for
a million times I would get agitated, but I reminded myself that this day would come when I would not
hear your voice bellowing ‘Gillliiiiannnnn’. So I would get up and say “Yes
dad”. Sometimes you only want to see if I was here.

I miss feeding you and tucking you in at night. I miss you coming to my room
to see what I was doing and making sure I was here. I miss you refusing to go
to bed until I came home. I miss you telling me and tammy to stop talking
and making noise. I miss asking you what you want to eat and you say
anything. I miss your smile, your laugh. I miss you saying come take me up.

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