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Pekka Harju, the Co Founder of Khimoo has passed away last night. As Stobe Harju's father, he will be remembered as a dad, grandpa and a husband who fought to make life better for his kids. He will be dearly missed. This story is written by Stobe a some time after Pekka's passing.
My father passed away during the night of 24th March. I wrote this quite some time after, but felt it was appropriate to add his final day as the date of the post.
My dad was fighting a rare infection for the last 3 years and almost recovered. His fighting motive wasn't just my mom or me and my siblings, but his grand children, all five of them. They kept him moving forward and battling in anticipating to survive just a little bit longer enjoying his grand kids growing up.
I feel deep sorrow thinking that he might not have had the chance to see his best years or to enjoy his retirement. I think I am wrong in so many ways however.
Now after some time has gone by it's easier to look into the past and see what I inherited. In addition to this company that is named after my kids he gave me so many things, including a steady childhood, my dearest sport basketball, the ambition for stories on reading and writing, the love of films and music, but most of all the responsibility of your own doings and life.
My parents have both made amazing careers as lawyers. My father being one of the youngest lawyers to establish a firm after graduation and my mother being one of the first significant women in the profession in Finland. They both taught me great ambition and reminded me for using my creativity every single day to clear my path for what ever I wanted to do. Without that encouragement, I would've never dared to try what I am doing now.
They didn't just make their careers Cinderella stories but their personal lives as well. They traveled and saw the world together and while it wasn't always peachy, they still endured the tough times and looked forward as a couple with more to lose than anyone I know. They always had each other no matter what. My mom constantly stayed at my father's side when he was ill and even though it was tough for years with all the sleepless nights, she endured and showed him true love until the very last day. I feel I have a lot to learn from their devotion to each other.
I owe my dad what I have become.
I went trough a lot as a kid. I was an adventurer who would never back down from an opportunity of doing something different. That is another story, but I can say I did a lot of stupid stuff when I was young. After trying out different things, I turned to a dear thing to my father. Movies. As a kid me and my dad watched close to all Hollywood studio releases on VHS and on a good day in the movies whenever he had time alongside his work. Eventually when I started making it as a film director, he could not have been prouder because he knew I chose my own path and believed I made the right choice. I owe my dad what I have become.
Advisor, supporter & Sensei. That's what I consider my dad to be when it comes to the beginning of my career and Khimoo. My father got me my first actual job in the industry. I couldn't get anything after college and went into deep depression for months until my girlfriend Isabell (now my wife) came home with my best friend and literally had him drag me out to get a job.
I never wanted to ask anything like this from my dad, but I had no choice but to ask for help. He contacted someone he knew, who had just got out from a big cross media advertising agency and was now about to found a company of his own with a few friends. Because of my dad, I joined Nitro.
After years my dad, alongside the experience in the industry, made me confident about founding Khimoo. My dad gave me the keys. His first sentence after we walked out of the bank and onto our separate ways was "I hope you're serious enough about this, because if you aren't it may well backfire and it'll be your last effort to try to build something of your own". I hope I didn't disappoint him. I think I didn't.
By the time my parents realised it was getting late they wanted to stay together in the hospital and made me take care of their errands. I didn't want to believe my dad would be gone within a few days, but I went along with it. My parents asked me to close an account to a bank and draw out the rest of the funds. Believe it or not, while there the bank demanded my father being present as his account was terminated. You're kidding? You want my dad who is barely alive in the bank? So I furiously called my mom who was with my father at that moment. I put the phone on a speaker so that my parents could explain the clerk what was going on. The clerk didn't comply at all and because of this I heard the final words from my dad "You fucking jerk. So you want me to get up and walk to the bank from a hospital bed so that you can get a personal confirmation that it's my account?!"... it continued from that with a lot more swearing and I don't blame him. At the time I was actually laughing out loud while I didn't know those were the last words I'd hear from my dad. Feisty as always I thought and that cheered me up. I now comfort myself with my last real conversation with my dad.
Ok. I couldn't wish anything better.
Before the end I wanted to visit my father but none of us dared. It was the beginning of Covid-19 pandemic and we wanted the virus to stay away from him. We were scared. A week before and before the restrictions I visited him.
He wanted to talk about my kids and their friends, school and basketball success as well as all the other stuff they do. I told him everything and for the first time he would not interrupt me but listen all the way through. Once I was finished with my story he asked me "How are you holding up? Are you happy?". I told him that everything was alright and it was my job now to get him up and running for the summer so that he could spend the time with family. He smiled and replied "Ok. I couldn't wish anything better."
I can't remember what was said after that, but it doesn't matter. All the years when I had a chance to spend with him alone, watching movies, playing around, traveling, even fighting, I got a big piece of my dna that tells me to never give up. Neither did he.
Thank you dad. Rest easy. Love you. ♥
Kiitos isä. Lepää rauhassa. Rakastan sinua. ♥
Kiitos Isä
Kiitos Isä
Pekka Harju founded Khimoo with his son Stobe Harju in 2010.