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My Dad

There is no anniversary, birthday or any other reminder, I just miss my Dad.  My Dad.  I could write for days about my Dad.  He was the very first man I fell in love with.  He was handsome, he was kind and he worked harder than most.  

When I was little, 3 to 5, he would put me in the car and we would travel!  To the Post Office, Bank and THEN somewhere for food.  He would hold my little hand and introduce me as his girlfriend.  Out of everything I remember about my Dad, it is his hands.  How he held mine, how he typed, how he held a cup, and how he danced holding my Mom's hand.  I loved everything about this man.  Even when he got mad...I reflect with humor.  He NEVER swore.  If he slipped a swear word we all ran for cover.

He took me to my very first day to school.  I didn't go to Kindergarten.  I was told it was because I was too smart for that.  Later when I was torturing my siblings with my intelligence, I was told it was because I was still a baby...attached to my parents!!!  I love that now.  Well, he brought me to a First Grade.  Miss Craddy was my teacher...she was Dad's teacher once too...I think.  She was good to me because of Dad.

My job in my family was to entertain my Dad.  I made that man laugh.  He and I laughed more than anything.  He had this great sense of humor that was full of joy.  He was once a policeman and had more stories than anyone I knew.  In our house, dinner was important.  Food and family were hand in hand.  My Mom would make fantastic Sunday Dinners.  Always ending with stories and dessert.  My Dad would be sipping coffee and eating dessert and the stories were mesmerizing.  As we got older and brought boyfriends home, I would watch each one fall in love with my Dad.  We would break up  and then run into them later just to be asked how my parents were!  What?  Yep.  He was great.

When I married BJ, I watched a different relationship happen.  He took BJ under his wing.  He helped BJ make his Confirmation.  He stood for him.  I watched a friendship between the two that gave me such comfort.  BJ loved my Dad.  He loved the stories and he had plans.  We started building a house here on our farm for my parents.  My Dad was FINALLY going to live on a farm.  He was so excited to be in fresh air.  I remember him taking our children, a Beau and Maria, for a long walk to see the land.  All I ever wanted, was to take care of my parents.  As they got older and I realized how much they did for their kids, I just wanted them to have peace in their life.

My Mom started telling me that Dad was falling.  They were still in their house and we were building out here.  I ended up taking him to the hospital suspecting a stroke.  They sent him home because he was "strong" and just needed a walker because of a pulled muscle.  Two days later he was unable to talk or walk because now he was in full blown stroke.  He died July 26, 2006.  He died three weeks after the stroke of a massive heart attack.  The loss for me was more than anything I ever ever encountered and unless you know this loss, you can't comprehend.  To this day, I apologize to any of my friends that lost a Mom or Dad and I just didn't realize the pain.

So this blog...it can't do justice for my Dad.  He was a holy man.  I don't mean he didn't make mistakes or any of that.  He depended on a God.  He trusted in God.  He entrusted his life and the life of his children to God.  In the end, I walk into my Church and can picture my Dad sitting there with his hands folded on his lap anticipating what was going to happen in the Mass.  He loved life.  He loved my Mother more than life.  He loved all his children more than we knew.  I just, miss my a Dad.





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