It is with humble appreciation that I write this tribute. To the Auburn Villager and the entire Auburn family I am eternally grateful for your outpouring of love, support and kindness my sister and I have received over the past week and a half.  We are taking and coping with each moment as it passes, and so far that has fared us well.

To most, my dad was an Auburn man who really did believe in Auburn and loved it. To some my dad was a man of past mistakes who was a testament to making an effort at turning a life around.

To others my dad was an old soul who loved his community and his family the best he could. To Elizabeth and me he was our Daddy, and we've come to realize you only get one of those in life--regardless of the circumstances. So with that in mind, I am honored to share with you the Stump we knew.

I always found the irony that with Dad's obsession with sports, the Lord gave him two girls, but that certainly didn't stop him. I am now proud to say I know more about football than most men and can almost keep up with my former collegiate baseball player boyfriend when it comes to watching my Yankees play.

With that being said, I am pretty sure my being a "diehard" Yankees fan was almost as big of thorn in Dad's side as my going to the University of Alabama.

As a little girl, my Dad and I were the best of buddies, and I have some wonderful thoughts of that time in our lives. I was a pretty prissy little girl, and poor Dad had to file many a court document with Barbie glitter and some really pretty stickers on them and removed many a Barbie shoe from the bottom of his foot, not to mention actually sporting some lovely hairdos that consisted of some pretty clips and hair bows. One year he even dressed up in a full clown costume to match mine for Halloween.

There was a never a moment in our lives that we questioned whether or not Dad loved us, even in times we'd both rather forget. So, Elizabeth and I look forward to laughing for many years about all of his stories from Dilly Hill in LaGrange, Opelika High and the ATO house (many of those I didn't hear until after I graduated from college--I guess he didn't want to give me any ideas), his yummy breakfasts, his "world famous" steaks, as he called them, trips to Disney World and Chewacla and the times he sat through every terrible movie made in the past 22 years because one of us begged him to take us.

He loved fishing, the History channel and any sport or war movie you can think of. How many 8-year-old girls have seen Tora Tora Tora? I'm pretty sure I am the only one.

I'm going to keep this short and sweet even though if I had the guts and the Villager had given me their paper for the week, I could probably write you a short novel, but Dad would have wanted this week's issue to focus on the Tigers beating the Dawgs, so I'll spare us all.

I found this quote a few days ago and think it is important for us all to remember. I've learned that: "goodbyes will always hurt, pictures can never replace being there, memories forget the hard times, words can never replace feelings."So that is why we hold onto and cherish every moment we've ever had with our loved ones.

So to my sweet, wholesome, pure-at-heart Daddy: I know you have been waiting on this.

War Eagle, Daddy! "My time is up. I thank you for yours."