What I remember most about my father
written by J.J.

I remember how you could always tell when dad was telling a lie.  He always got a very noticeable twinkle in his eye.

I remember dad twisting the words to old sayings to suit himself.  For example, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" was changed to "Do unto others before they out-do you";
Dad was quite the character!

I remember when I first learned to drive.  I drove a 4-speed Chevy Chevette. Where we lived, there was a hill that rose nearly straight up. Dad took me to the bottom of the hill and told me to get behind the wheel.   When I had drove about halfway up the hill, dad told me to stop. I did as he told. Then he said, "Now, I want you to start going again without coasting backwards."   And we kept doing that until I could stop and start without coasting backwards. Dad's saying was, "If you can drive a standard, you can drive anything."

I remember never appreciating my name until it was too late. I've always hated my name. In school, there was a boy with the same name and it got embarrassing when the teachers finally resorted to saying either Jamie the boy or Jamie the girl. I never appreciated the fact that I was named after my father.   I was supposed to have been "Daddy's Little Girl," although, when my baby sister was born, she took that position. I was more of a "Momma's girl," myself. I even was nicknamed after my father. JJ, which stands for Jimmy's Jamie. I wish I had appreciated the honor of being named, and nicknamed, after my father, before his death.

I remember dad's favorite sayings, such as "Tell somebody something without telling them anything" and "Don't do something unless you're going to do it right."

I remember dad's favorite color was red.

I remember dad singing to mom, grinning and that twinkle in his eye as he sung out of tune the words to "You are My Sunshine" and danced a funny-looking jig around the kitchen.

I remember.......

What I remember most about my father
written by Vicki Sue (Stimpson) Wagner

I remember one of dad's sayings was "You gotta be smarter than it is."

I remember another saying of dad's.  "If you can't do it right the first time, don't do it at all."

My dad was always helping other people.
He was a great welder and was even told that he was over-qualified for the job.
Is there really such a thing as being too good at something?

I remember how my dad used to dance around the kitchen.  It was a silly dance.  It always made us laugh.

I remember my dad saying, "You're not a man unless you have dirt under your fingernails."
My dad took pride in being a hard-working man.

I remember growing up he made us stack piles of brick only to, in a week, change his mind and make us haul them to a different spot.
We all hated that and complained but, I would do it again if it would bring our dad back.

What I remember most about my father
Written by Susan Annette (Stimpson) Cassick

I remember his gentle smile.
I remember his laughter.
I remember him teaching his daughters how to drive.
I remember him working very hard to provide for his family.
I remember his love for boating and camping.
I remember his love for Kioki, our family dog.
Most of all I remember the love he had for his wife, children and grandchildren that will forever live in our hearts.

A Memory of My Father
Written by Christy Lynn (Stimpson) Bastardi

I was mowing my mom's grass, thinking over the years all the living Mom, Dad and we Kids did here.
You know, riding our first bicycle, playing volleyball in the front yard and picking up the endless rocks that somehow always found their way into our front yard.
But the memory that stood out most in my mind was the many times Dad tinkered with his old John Deere tractor.  He'd have me jump in his old, green Dodge truck and tow him up the road to the
neighbor's house.  I'd then turn around and go back down the slope whild dad tried to jump start that old tractor.  Time and again he'd have me tow him while he'd try to jump start it.
Finally, I'd say, "Aw, Dad, not again.  You know that ole tractor's never gonna start!"
I'd be so frustrated and Dad would say,
"Okay, we'll try it another day."
Oh, how happy I was to be through with that job, then!
Dusk was falling as I shut off the mower.  And I stood outside in the silence, looking over Dad's land as Dad did every night.  I wiped a tear away as I thought,
"What I wouldn't do to tow Dad on that tractor just one more time."

My Knight In Shining Armor
Written by Dolores Elizabeth Stimpson (Mom)

A day is never over if it creates a memory, and I have lot's of memories of Jim so it's hard to pick just one.
The one that stand's out right now is:
One day, shortly before he died, Jim was driving down our road.  When he got down by the horse fences, he seen a crowd around the fences so he stopped to see what was going on.
Our neighbor man's horse had thrown him and was rearing up his front hooves close to the man.
His life was in danger and he was hurt.  No one would go in to drag him out for fear of the horse, who was acting crazy.
My husband said, "I'll go in.  I won't let him get killed."
My husband crawled over the fence and started slowly toward our neighbor.
The horse laid his ears back and came charging at Jim, but Jim didn't give up.
He kept trying again and again, backing up some or going ahead some until he finally reached our neighbor.
When Jim got him under the arms, he quickly pulled him to safety.
I never learned until Jim died that he had then hopped in his pickup truck and went out to the end of the road to guide the ambulance in that the neighbors had called for.
My neighbor is in his seventy's and I'm so thankful when I still see him riding his horse up or down the road.