At 11:30 PM on Wednesday night (December 12, 2007), Mary's father, the Rev. Dr. Charles P. Hamilton, passed away. He was 81 years old.

My father-in-law, whom I affectionately called "Daddy Charlie", was one of the most influential people in my life. Because of "Daddy Charlie", I fell in love with his native Subligna, where he and his family had "The Farm" and "the Chicken House", where he married Mary and I over 4 1/2 years ago.

I remember several years ago, on one of my first visits to "The Farm", he took me out to the fields where he had several bales of hay and taught me how to pitch it. Boy, did my arm hurt after several hours of pitching hay, but I will always remember that moment where the two of us bonded. Even though Mary and I were not even engaged yet at that time, he said I could call him "Dad". He must've known that I saw something very special in his daughter and that we would be together for a long, long time.

A couple of years ago, his health had started to deteriorate due to the strokes that he had suffered in the five years prior. One of the last sermons that he preached at the old Subligna Methodist Church that summer was about getting right with God. Before we left for home at the end of that weekend, he said, "Take good care of my daughter.", not knowing what may happen tomorrow.

Tomorrow, Mary and I are leaving for Florida to say our "goodbyes" and we will be down there for awhile, so this may be the last blog I write before the holidays.

"Daddy Charlie", I know that long ago, you got right with God, and as a result, you are now celebrating in heaven with Him. I'm so glad that I got to tell you how much I love you and I am forever grateful to you for your accepting me into the Hamilton family and for your wise counsel. I miss you very, very much, but I know that my "goodbye" is not a "farewell", for we shall meet again in the house of the Lord.

Dear Readers, please keep Mary, her mother, sisters, and "Daddy Charlie's" entire family in your thoughts and prayers. In memory of my father-in-law, you may make a donation to the Charles and Nancy Hamilton Scholarship Fund at Florida Southern College. Here is the postal address...

Florida Southern College
Office of Development
111 Lake Hollingsworth Drive
Lakeland, FL 33801-5698

That's all for now. Thank you for reading and may you and yours have a very happy and safe holiday season.

        

 

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