A Year Later

It doesn’t seem possible, but my grandfather passed away a year ago today. My thoughts are with my family, especially my grandmother, who endured a horrible nightmare with his sickness and passing, and my mom, who was here helping me with Madilyn’s first weeks of life when he passed. Little did we know my dad would pass less than a year later.

My uncle leaned over and whispered this to me just before I got up to speak at my dad’s funeral. He said, “You haven’t lost your dad.” And that helped me immensely. I haven’t lost 30 years of memories. I haven’t lost his influence in my life. I haven’t lost having a dad, or a grandfather. I have both. Even though they’re not here making new memories with us now, we have a lifetime of them to draw from — and I know that who I am today has been greatly affected by their presence in my life, then and now.