Hello, folks. For those of you who know me personally, you may find this one difficult to read. Today would have been my dad’s 75th birthday. It’s a rough day.
For those of you who don’t know, my dad died of cancer in June 2016. My family is very close, and this was devastating for all of us. I miss him every day. I am trying to keep it together for my mom, but we are both struggling today.
My dad was a great man. He was funny, witty, smart and had a memory unlike anyone I’ve ever known. He could remember pretty much anything he ever learned, and he remembered dates of events in his life in way I never have been able to. I can barely remember things that happened last week, and he could be like “Oh, on March 7, 1975, I … .” It was unreal. I miss that.
There are SO MANY things I could write about, but it would take me days and days, so I’ll talk about this: On my dad’s final Father’s Day (didn’t know it would be that at the time), I gave my dad a book. The book was a memory book that I filled out myself. It would say things like “My funniest memory of you was …” etc. I filled it out and gave it to him. I didn’t know how he would react to that since it was such a personal, emotional thing.
Let me tell you, it was the best thing I could have given him. He read that, and it really hit him how many memories we had together, but also how many of them I remembered. Playing baseball, running Saturday errands, the weird songs we would sing, the junk food he let me eat for lunch, the walks at the park, etc. etc. etc. etc. Just so many memories. I have that book now. It saddens me and brings me joy to read it. So, if you want to get a loved one a really special, personal gift, I highly recommend getting a book like that. (I gave one to my mom too, and she also loved it.)
I’m going to close here because my heart can’t handle any more right now. Hug your loved ones today, if you can. If you can’t because of the pandemic, call them. Facetime them. Text them. Send an email. Send a letter! Just don’t forget to stay in touch.
Until next time!
Frazzled Daisy 