Excerpted from Father's Day 2018 Facebook post:
I am thankful for the man that I knew as I grew up. The man who loved me unconditionally. The man whose pride in my accomplishments was the very thing that drove me to achieve in the first place. The man who sacrificed time, personal desires, and even his own body to provide the best home and life he possibly could for my mom, my sisters, and me. The man who worked on cars in the driveway all night, and who made me mad when he told me to leave the television and come to sit in a car and pump the brakes for him while he worked (though I secretly loved doing it). The man who came in from his work in the driveway (most of the time) so we could all sit down at the dinner table together as a family. The man who drove us to church 2-3 times a week, singing loud and proud, and playing his saxophone in the church band. The man who came to virtually every school open house, or play, or concert, or football game, or parent-teacher conference, or awards night for 4 kids over 20 years of K-12 education, and who always presented a unified front with our teachers, whether or not he liked or agreed with them. The man who drove me to my college auditions, who tried to talk me into keeping my law major rather than switching to music education, who set up my dorm room and cried as he and mom drove away, and who walked me from the O’Connell Center to Criser Hall to pick up my diploma after my graduation ceremony ended (you could pick up diplomas the same day back then). The man who has attended many of my school performances and events since I began teaching 17 years ago, sharing the same “that’s my son” sentiments with my students’ own parents. The man who took time off to move me from Boynton Beach to Gainesville to Boynton Beach to Boca Raton to Atlanta to Tampa, always without a complaint or a second thought. The man who taught me how to drive, and has worked on my cars more times than I can count or remember. The man who comforted and cried with me when my dog died. The man who taught me by example for years and years and years to work hard, to be kind, to be generous, to love others, to admit when I fall short, and to pick myself up and try again.
That’s my dad. That’s Philip Locker.
No matter what this disease or any other challenge of life may take from him or from me, I will cling to the memories of the man I met 40 years ago, when God gifted us to one another, and sent us on this journey together. To God be the glory! Dad, I love you with all my heart! ❤️