Lessons My Father Taught Me - In Memory Of William H. Turner

On February 13, 2013 my dear father passed from this earth. The sorrow, loss, and insurmountable anguish I felt and continue to feel is more than I can describe here. My saving grace, the things that keep me putting one foot in front of the other and embracing each day and what it contains are the important life lessons he's left me. His simple but effective wisdom lives on as does the remembrance of his daily habits, all which implied his keys to the kingdom. Although this is not an exhaustive list, I'd like to share some of these life lessons with you.

Live Your Passion

Hard work was always important to my dad. I remember giving him a quote that I cut out from the paper once. It said, "The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary." He kept that quote at his desk for as long as I can remember. My father built a beautiful business surrounding himself and his passion; he put his personal imprint on everything he did. Everyone who walked into his Corvette dealership was made to feel special and would always have their unique needs met.  In his 41 years of doing business, he never faltered. I watched him daily, in awe every step of the way.  To me, it is my dad who should be in the dictionary, his name after the word "success."

Stay Close to Your Friends and Family

My dad had an extensive slide and photo library. He kept the slides in the basement of our childhood home and adorned the walls of his business with his photographs. He would disappear for hours on Sundays and holidays viewing reel after reel of past experiences, his days in the army while stationed in Hawaii, early Daytona 500 races he attended with his friends and pictures of my brother and me as kids at our camp in the Adirondacks of New York. "We sure did a lot of living," he would always say to us as he emerged from the basement teary-eyed. "I just want more time," he would say, frequently.

My dad always let us kids, as well as his customers, know that these experiences he captured were everything to him. He took his camera everywhere he went. "These are the good old days," he would tell customers as they viewed the plethora of pictures at the shop. "Not then, but today, right now. We have to make the best of them."

Sometimes Things Must Change

My dear father always had a knack for timing.  "Knows when to hold 'em and knows when to fold 'em," my mom always said of him. He knew that timing was key in making a great car purchase, in selling to the right customer. My dad knew the art of growth and change. He did not ever like to make waves or "draw lines" as he put it. Yet even in his last days he told us, "Just hang on. I'm telling you, I'm going to get better, Summer's coming."

My dad understood life is filled with love and loss, customers and friends, family and memories. He also knew that nothing lasts forever just as each experience turned to a photograph and each car he carefully detailed needed to be sold. My father taught me what was important: to love and live with reckless abandon, and always to trust my heart.  And from today forward when I pass by a beautiful Corvette on the street, I'll do a double take and for a second I'll pretend it's my dad behind the wheel... taking one more Summer drive.

In memory of William H. Turner June 23, 1940 - February 13, 2013

Comments

[Kirsten Brannen]

Beautiful, Laura. Beautiful. So, so sorry for your loss.

[Laura]

Thank you so much, Kirsten :-)

[Valerie Nesbitt]

Laura what beautiful words about your dad and what a great way to live your life. I guess i did not realize what you did for a living but I am interested in learning more. I just joined the YMCA for exercise and am part of the biggest loser program we are doing at work. Decided it was time for me to take care of my body, mind and spirit and lose some weight and have more respect for myself and my body image. Hoping we can all get together soon and I can learn more from you. As you say family is important and a cousin dinner should be coming up soon. Again, we are so sorry for your loss. You and Ed have been through a lot lately and we are thinking of you both. Love you guys. Oh and tell Ed sister Margaret said hello.

[Laura]

Hi Valerie, Thank you for reading. I am happy that you have chosen a healthy path. You will be rewarded. Thank you for all your kind words. I will look forward to getting together soon!

[Bridget Z]

Laura, I never met your father but he was a huge influence on my life. I grew up in Victor. Every day on the school bus I would pass by Turner Automotive and dream about one day owning a corvette. I would longingly see the cars gleam and shine from the loving care your father provided. I often saw him outside taking care of the cars. In 1983, before college, I got a poster with a beautiful covette on it captioned "The rewards of higher education." That poster went to college with me and was in my office during graduate school. I packed that poster away for my girls when they got older. Life put my plans for a corvette on hold for a while. But I never stopped driving by Turner Automotive and dreaming when we were in town to visit family. In 2004 I finally bought my first corvette. My older daughter took my 1983 poster to college with her in 2006. She is now in medical school. My younger daughter took the same poster with her to college and she is finishing up nursing school. My poster is a bit ratty now as it has been taped, pinned and tacked to many walls over the years. Now it proudly hangs in my garage next to several other corvette posters. I owe your father a heartfelt thank you for helping me to make my dreams come true and pass that dream onto my daughters! His love and pride in Turner Automotive, his work ethic, his love of family rubbed off on me, even from a distance. Thank you for the memories.

[Laura]

Hi Bridget. Thank you so much for your kind words. I am so amazed at how many lives my dad has touched. Thank you for sharing that beautiful story. I will be sure to pass it along to my family. Please stop by the next time you are in town, we would love to see you :-) Much Love, Laura