Although I can't start this off by telling you how many rounds of golf I got in this weekend like Eddie would have, I can tell you about a few of my favorite memories of Eddie Robinson.

I first met Eddie a few weeks after Billie passed away. I was the first person to sit in her chair directly across from Ed in many, many years. I knew I had big shoes to fill, but he also had a job in my life that required some big shoes.

I had come home from college after my dad left and I didn't know it at the time, but Eddie became the dad I needed when my dad couldn't be there. Between reading the mind numbing minutes from every meeting around, we also got to talk about his life and what was going on in my life at the time. He became very protective of me, making sure he approved of any boyfriends and made sure that when he was around, I was treated with respect. But, he also treated me very much like a daughter – when I got my first tattoo he didn't talk to me for three days, which is still shorter than the time when Will got his first tattoo.

He was there when I needed him the most and I like to think that I helped ease some of his grief from losing Billie by hiring this 19-year-old girl who kept him on his toes. He always laughed because he said I would get mad at the same things she would have. One of my favorite things he'd do is buy me balloons on my birthday, but made sure to get the exact number of years old I was. My 21st I had to tell him that was good, I can't fit them in my car anymore!

After getting married, moving from town and having babies, Eddie and I lost touch. When I moved back to Hartley, though, we met almost every Wednesday at 4 p.m. for a drink at the Legion. It felt like old times where he'd give me advice about everything and listen to all my crazy stories, just this time including marriage and kids.

During the pandemic we'd only get to see each other on drivebys, but I know he always knew that he was My Eddie and how important he was to me during the toughest times of my life. I'll miss him forever and take comfort in the fact that he can rest and never have to read another meeting minute, estate sale or a classified ad. Also, I proofread this twice, but I'm sure he'd still find something I missed.

He always ended his column with a joke from his joke books he kept in the office. I found this one from one of his "Two Thoughts" in 2009 that I think he'd still laugh at today.

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Good Old Days

Grandpa was always going on about the good old days, and the lower cost of living in particular.

"When I was a kid, my mom could send me to the store and I'd get salami, two pints of milk, six oranges, two loaves o' bread, a magazine and some new blue jeans, all for a dollar!!"

Then Grandpa said sadly, " You can't DO that anymore... they got those video cameras everywhere you look!"

Brittany Dolphin, of Hartley, worked at the Sentinel-News from 2007-2010.