by "Lil T," Terry Easter Jr., son

I am him and he is me!

My father was a kind man, a tender soul, who affectionately named me Lil T. I have been Lil T since my earliest memories. Because of him I had unique and special experiences growing up. I remember he would come to Seattle and pick me up. We would spend a lot of time driving around to visit all his friends and family, so many my little mind couldn’t handle it all, but I was with him so it didn’t matter.

I loved hearing his stories. He would always seem to embellish them as the story went on, LOL, if you knew him you knew exactly what I mean.

I was his mini me. My love for sports was passed down from Big Luke, to dad, to me, and now my boys. As a kid I would spend many summers in Southern Cali, where our first trip off the plane was to eat at Martoni’s restaurant where the food was excellent and the stars hung out. My summer days were filled with following my dad around or at the beach with my step mom Kris who taught me how to swim and did nothing but love on me. The relationship and love Momma Kris and I have for each other is strong to this day and will last an eternity. If not at the beach, it was off to Norm Nixon Basketball camps, or hanging with Dusty Baker and Uncle Bill North at Dodger Stadium. Sitting in the dugout before and after games with a hot dog, taking all the players bats and extra gloves home. I didn’t know how good I had it, but dad only wanted the best for me.

I am him and he is me. My love for clothes, watches and jewelry, nice pens and maple bars Dad. Love the Lakers, Dodgers and Cleveland Indians Dad. My love of music Dad. My first concert, Dad was working and I tagged along at ten years old. It was Teddy Pendergrass and yes it's true - panties flew on stage. My love for cars Dad. I remember Little Red, his 1970 280SL, or the Grey Ghost, his 450SEL. Even if he wasn’t in the market for a new car he just loved to look at them. Dad loved shoes too - especially a good sneaker. He would come to town to visit me as an adult and the first thing he would ask was, “Where you are hiding your shoes?” We would laugh because he knew I was hiding them as he ALWAYS attempted to take multiple pairs home with him. In turn, I’d go visit him, return the favor and steal my shoes back. Our ping pong matches were legendary, our golf games competitive. Playing cards, we never finished a game - one of us always got caught cheating and it was funny. He was my first Kobe Mamba Mentality. He did not want to fail and he was going to work hard to get the results he wanted.

There is a hole in my life from his missing presence; we talked on the phone literally every day. He would call sometimes just to see what I was eating. He especially loved to hear about Sunday meals and would always swear he taught my mom how to cook. If Lebron James his favorite ball player dunked on someone, I could count down: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and watch my phone ring. Not to hear a hello but a yell of, “Lil T did you see that?!” He would call and want to know what I preached about today and ask for the tape. He wanted to know what I felt in my spirit and what I felt the Lord was saying. One of the most touching moments in my life was to be able to pray with him and my family towards his latter days. You could feel the spirit of the Lord in the room. It was so powerful, he opened his eyes and asked if we could do it again. I said, “Dad, if you want seconds we can do another prayer,” so we all joined hands and went at it again.

He was such a talented man, everything he touched he perfected. As he got older his hobbies changed, but his competitive nature to be the best always resided within him. I remember he stopped playing pick up basketball because of his knees, but the next thing I knew he was winning tennis tournaments and bringing home trophies. From there it was golf and then ultimately he settled into woodworking, putting his time, effort and patience into hand making one-of-a-kind pens, bowls and other awesome wood pieces. And to my boys, Chase and Cameron, remember the source of everything I'm passing down to you was from your Grandfather Terry Lee Easter Sr.

In every relationship there are ebbs and flows and in the end, hopefully, you have found what we had - nothing but LOVE! I love you dad. Thanks for everything. I wouldn’t change a thing because it made me who I am!

I am him and he is me!

Lil T