The anniversary of my Father's death will be coming up in a few days, and I wrote something in his honor I'd like to share with you:
I drove through a neighborhood today that is not on my usual route, but it’s a neighborhood I remember you working in. I had not been through there in a long time.
Somehow, I still felt you there. The trees that you planted are still there. The bushes and flowers you placed are still there. The dirt you moved still remains part of the ground. And somehow, your presence remained.
This is the time of year that you loved. You didn’t seem to mind the heat, or the humidity. You were outside - busy, laughing. Being yourself. Someone we all loved being around. Someone who made us all feel stronger, and safer.
And then this time every year, the anniversary of your passing comes around. The memories come back, and it still feels like you went away yesterday.
You are still missed and remembered by those who love you. I look around and I wonder…so many things have changed. There have been additions to our family through marriages, and births. People whom you loved are gone now. But your memory remains.
When I hear others discuss their parents, I realize how lucky I am, because they don’t always have the fond memories to look back on. I know you had faults, but time seems to have erased those from my mind. I hope that I can leave my daughter with those types of memories of me when I’m gone.
It’s been fifteen years since you left this earth, and that is a long time. But I am so grateful to have known you, and to know you left a little bit of yourself behind.
I drove through a neighborhood today that is not on my usual route, but it’s a neighborhood I remember you working in. I had not been through there in a long time.
Somehow, I still felt you there. The trees that you planted are still there. The bushes and flowers you placed are still there. The dirt you moved still remains part of the ground. And somehow, your presence remained.
This is the time of year that you loved. You didn’t seem to mind the heat, or the humidity. You were outside - busy, laughing. Being yourself. Someone we all loved being around. Someone who made us all feel stronger, and safer.
And then this time every year, the anniversary of your passing comes around. The memories come back, and it still feels like you went away yesterday.
You are still missed and remembered by those who love you. I look around and I wonder…so many things have changed. There have been additions to our family through marriages, and births. People whom you loved are gone now. But your memory remains.
When I hear others discuss their parents, I realize how lucky I am, because they don’t always have the fond memories to look back on. I know you had faults, but time seems to have erased those from my mind. I hope that I can leave my daughter with those types of memories of me when I’m gone.
It’s been fifteen years since you left this earth, and that is a long time. But I am so grateful to have known you, and to know you left a little bit of yourself behind.
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