I normally try to write a little something every year on the anniversary of Robin’s death or her birthday. Now, this time of year, I’m dealing with missing my best friend and also my daddy. For the last nine years February and March were two months I dreaded. You can’t help but think of the memories. Now with my daddy being gone it’s like starting all over again. The hurt of losing two very special people is a lot to endure. I miss talking to my daddy. We talked about him growing up. We would talk about him and my momma. He felt really guilty about the way treated her while they were together. I wish my momma would have made an effort to see him at least once while he was at the nursing home. I think that would have put his mind at ease. I think that would have made a huge difference in his emotional well-being. I understand why she didn’t and maybe if I would have told her how he felt she probably would have. He was still in loved her. As much as some people tried to bad mouth her, it never changed the way he felt. None of us are perfect but love helps us love the imperfect things about someone as well as the perfect things. Sometimes when I went to see him we would just sit and watch a cowboy movie together. When it was time for him to eat he would be like ok Nay I’m bout to go eat. I see you later. He wasn’t missing no meals no matter what. Me, Kim and Burnard can go on for hours talking and laughing about daddy. Everyone knows he liked to drink and when he would come home drunk we would play jokes on him. He’d curse us out every time. I can’t help but laugh as I’m typing this. I used to want to follow him everywhere he went. I rarely could go because he was always on 6th Street, Richard’s, or Bear Cooter house drinking. He made up for it by bribing me though. I could get anything I wanted out of my daddy. He spoiled me when I was a kid. Every Christmas we always got what we wanted they made sure of that. Whenever he was home I would sit right beside him on the edge of the bed and talk him to death. I used to aggravate him the same way La does me now. He used to call me “motor mouth”. He was my favorite. He never spanked me or fussed at me. I was his baby. What I will miss most of all is rubbing his pretty soft hair. There wasn’t a time that I went to see him and didn’t rub his head. The day he died we were just pretty much waiting around til his heart stopped. The doctor had already said there was no hope. The machine was doing most of the breathing for him and his heart had already stopped twice. I tried unsuccessfully to get one of the ministers I know come and pray for him. I was relieved a few days later when two of them told me they had gone by to see my daddy. He didn't know who they were but they knew me. That meant a lot to me. While I was there I rubbed his head and talked to him. I let him know his baby was there with him. I asked him to open his eyes for me. I hope he knew I was there. I always wonder about how it would be but I never imagined being with my daddy when he died. After the doctor checked his heartbeat and she called the time. I was ready to go home. I didn't want to be there anymore. At the funeral, I knew that if I touched him he would be all cold and stiff. I didn’t want that feeling to stick with me but I had to rub that soft gray hair one last time. I told him I love him and how much I would miss him but I’m glad that he wasn’t suffering no more. I knew what he was going through emotionally and that is the only reason why I’ve been able to deal with him being gone. Robin, on the other hand, was taken from me and that is a huge difference. I haven’t found that peace and understanding that I have with my daddy. She still had so much life to live. We had so many more memories to make, more good times to be had. I wasn’t prepared for her to leave me. Today, Thursday, March 8, 2012 Robin would have been celebrating her 38th birthday. I’m sure if she was still here, tonight she would be going HARD at somebody club. I would have been right there beside her. Happy Birthday, Robin. Your best friend Netanyia misses you deeply. I love you always. I will see you and my daddy again someday.
My friend's doodle of her name.
Bobby Joe Samuel
Funeral service for Bobby Joe Samuel will be 11:00 a.m. Wednesday March 9,2011 at Jerusalem Baptist Church. Burial will be in Florence National Cemetery directed by Young and Young Funeral Home of Hartsville. Mr. Bobby Joe Samuel was the loving son of Mr. Lawrence and Lula Miriam Harvin Samuel. He was born in Darlington County on August 18, 1941. He was educated in the public schools of the county and was a graduate of Butler High School in Hartsville,S.C. He served with distinction in the US Army and was honorably discharged. He loved our county and was proud to serve. Because he grew up in a family of honest hard workers, he appreciated steady employment. He was a diligent and loyal employee in manufacturing at Sara Lee Hosiery for twenty-eight years. He was a member of Jerusalem Baptist Church where he enjoyed electrifying singing and dynamic preaching. When he attended church he was spiritually uplifted. Bobby Joe was fun loving, lively and a joy to be around. He was upbeat and very talkative. Many were attracted to him because he treated others the way he wanted to be treated. He made others feel better about themsevles because he was positive and motivating. Bobby was united in holy matrimony to Dorothy Jackson Samuel on September 19,1969. To this union, three children were born. Those surviving to cherish his memory are: his wife, Dorothy Mae Samuel; his children, Kimberly D. Jackson, Burnard N. Samuel and Netanyia G. Samuel; his siblings, Barbara Jean Greene, Marion P.Shirley, Golden (Paul) Liles, Joyce (Leroy) Joye, Albert L. Copeland; nine grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; one aunt, Lucia Johnson; one uncle, Edgar Rogers; father-in-law, Calvin Lee Jackson; adopted grandmother, Cleo Williams; special friends, Leroy Edward, James McGirt, James Lucas, Wanda Bracey, Edward Prescott; nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. He was preceded in death by: his sister, Gwendolyn Copeland and his brother, Alford Samuel.
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