Person of The Day – Howard Murphy

Posted on 26. May, 2011 by Mike in Person Of The Day

Recently I’ve started calling out a “Person of the day” on Facebook. This is where I choose someone who has impacted my life in a positive way.

Today’s person of the day is my dad, Howard Murphy.

As I write this blog post, May 26th, 2011 my dad will have passed away 11 years ago today. Now, I would never normally focus on the Day someone died as I’d much rather focus on the days they LIVED starting with their birthday but I’ve been having a very tough time with a few things recently and even though it’s been 11 years, I still to this day remember my Dad and wish he were here so we could talk about some of these things.

We may have had some differing opinions (long hair vs. short hair, Ninja vs. boxing etc.) but I respected my Dad a lot and he taught (and continues to teach) me some very important life lessons.

I’ll share a few and even blend in some of his words to me in quotes….

1) People are more important than ANYTHING else in the world.
“Michael, the way to measure the life you lived will be by the people who wind up standing around your casket at your funeral. It probably won’t be your banker, your lawyer and your accountant but if you treat people with respect…they’ll be good to you…”

2. Don’t be so serious
This one cracks me up because I’m a natural born worry-wart and I got that trait straight from my Dad! It’s like we feed on undue stress.

“I’ll get serious when they’re shoveling the dirt in my face” – Dry sense of humor pops…thanks for that!

3. Work Hard and Be Honest and the Money will Come
My Dad was the definition of a hard worker. As a construction foreman, his job was to plan and lead the guys to get the job done. If you drove past their worksite on any given day, you’d most likely find my Dad working the shovel and his guys LEANING on theirs. I’m sure he saved these turkeys a LOT of sweat.

4. NEVER EVER…..EVER disrespect your Mama!
This was made very clear to me. “If I ever come home and find you disrespecting your mother, I’ll have to knock you out…”

I don’t remember getting knocked out many times, though I’m sure I deserved it (sorry Mom) but I see his point now. Mothers are the lifeblood of the family.

5. Play VERY Hard
Nobody will EVER be able to say that my Dad didn’t have a good time. He worked very hard and played 10x harder. Showing true sign of Irish descendant, he may have taken in the odd pint of brew. I can still hear the stories and recite most word for word and I definitely know the value of having a good time.

So, every time I click on the Sunday Morning Classics and hear those crazy old country songs on the radio and I grin as I sing along, oblivious to why I seem to know most of the words to 100 songs that I couldn’t tell you the title of, I’ll fondly remember you Dad. You were the best friend I never knew I had and I’ll always be proud that you were my Dad.

I love you,
Mike