Today would have been Dad’s 80th birthday. I can’t quite imagine what he might have been like if he had lived to what feels like a milestone age. What does 80 look like? I watch people who might be that age, wondering if he would have had trouble getting in and out of cars, would have walked slower, been less active, maybe climbed fewer flights of stairs. I don’t think so.
We feel like we were robbed of something important when Dad was killed by that tired trucker; the chance to see him “grow up.” We’re left to imagine what he might have turned out to be. We know for sure he wasn’t done evolving, he was always learning new things, reading, going to classes, researching on the internet. We all wish we had been able to watch him grow, and we wish that when he finally did need us, that we could have been there to lend a hand. Like he always lent his hands to people that needed him. It would have only been fair to pay him back for all the years he supported us.
Turns out the world isn’t always fair.
Happy Birthday Daddy. Hope you’re fixing things, as only you could do, up there in heaven. Mostly likely you’re working on a handrail right now, or unsticking a door, making things safer for someone else. We’ll see you when we get there.
Oh, Dawn. You’re writing about your dad always gets to me. Thanks for sharing these photos. I’m thinking of you today.
Oh, shoot. Your writing, not you’re. Too early.
thanks Melanie. Give your Dad a hug next time you see him. From all of us.
Thanks for sharing these beautiful photos of your Dad with us.
Thinking of you today,
Josh and Jess
What a wonderful tribute to your dad.
Yes, that was a lovely tribute to your dad, Dawn! Thanks for sharing it!
You write so eloquently about your Dad and your feelings about him. Hugs, and thanks for helping me not to take my parents for granted.
Enjoyed reading your thoughts on your Dad. My Dad is now 82, and yes he is slower, and more things hurt, but he’s gotten through his first year without my Mom and that says a lot.