The Apostle Paul counseled fathers to “provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4). In the Jamaican culture, we see and hear so much about absent fathers and the impact their absence has on our children and the nation. It is always good to know that some fathers get Paul’s counsel right even when their absence is not their own choice.
Mormon Newsroom had the opportunity to speak with Amy-Lee Smith one of the four daughters left behind by their father Harold who died at the relatively young age of fifty-three in 2012.
Mormon Newsroom: How old were you when your Dad died?
Amy-Lee: I was 11 when he died
Mormon Newsroom: What kind of father was he?
Amy-Lee: Strangely enough I thought of him as a stay-at-home mom. He was always there. He dropped us off at school and picked us up, and in the summer, we spent time at the beach or his mother’s house. I would run to him when I was in trouble and would be extremely disappointed in myself when I made him upset.
Mormon Newsroom: Did you share any hobbies or favourite things?
Amy-Lee: When my dad was alive he would always take us to the beach and spend hours there. I loved that most of the time it was spontaneous.
Mormon Newsroom: What kinds of things did he teach you?
Amy-Lee: I can’t really differentiate the things he taught me from the things my mom taught. I was really sheltered so I was only really taught about the church I guess.
Mormon Newsroom: What is your favourite memory of your Dad?
Amy-Lee: My favourite memories were the nights he spent in our room talking long hours about nothing and everything, cracking jokes, making each other laugh.
Mormon Newsroom: If he were here today, what do you think his most important advice to you would be?
Amy-Lee: No matter, what never be afraid to be yourself.
Mormon Newsroom: How do you think losing your Dad so young has impacted you?
Amy-Lee: I’ll say it impacted me both in a good way and a bad. When he was alive I was really sheltered. When he died I was just entering high school; I learned a lot of different things good and bad mostly about boys on my own because at that time my mom and I didn’t have that close of a relationship. I guess his death impacted me in a good way because now my mother and I have a better relationship, and the mistakes I made before can be there as a lesson.
Mormon Newsroom: “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” This is the fifth of the Ten Commandments. What are some things you do to try to honour your father?
Amy-Lee: By simply going to church and trying to gain a testimony of Christ
Mormon Newsroom: What advice you would you give to fathers with daughters about the best way to influence the trajectory (direction and path) of their daughter’s life?
Amy-Lee: To be there first as a father and secondly most importantly as a friend. As a father you are there to provide and protect, but as a friend you are a companion with whom you can share lifelong jokes and secrets.
Amy-Lee and Kima-Lee Smith are living-up to their late father’s heart desire for them to attend church and gain their own testimony of the gospel. Amy-Lee and her sisters are truly blessed to have a father who though absent in body is still teaching and having an impact on their everyday lives.