Dear Daddy….

It was 8 years ago Feb. 26 that you celebrated your homegoing! In some ways it seems way longer than that; other times it seems like only yesterday. The Lord has, with the
passing of time, made it easier to bare; but I want you to know that rarely a day goes by that I don’t think of you. I relish the sweet memories of years with you as the best Daddy a girl could ever have. Now, we both know you were not without your vices and faults, but, then again, who is? Yet I never for one moment doubted your love for me, your pride in me as your daughter, your joy with me as we celebrated the birth of all 3 of my children…you provided for me in many ways, and made sure that I had a fun, memorable, educated upbringing! You were so handsome; an immaculate dresser (GQ style!); you were a charmer; you were extremely witty and creative (I loved your off the cuff poetry written on greeting cards, and will always treasure my 14K gold Aztec Calendar disk that you had an original poem just for me engraved on (no way can I even read it now without a magnifying glass---so many lines it was itty bitty to begin with!) I remember as a child riding on your shoulders in the pool and diving off; I remember your getting us a pony and how proud we were of “Peanut”; I remember wonderful, happy, family vacations every single year to places I otherwise would likely have never been able to see in my lifetime; and I remember lots of times you had me sit on your lap, even after I was grown, oftentimes in front of the Christmas tree in the sunroom at your house, and you would tell me again, ‘I love you!” Oh, Daddy, I miss you so much…and I cannot even begin to fathom the joy you are living all the time in the presence of our Lord. One day I’ll join you there, and what a joyous occasion that will be, too. And as I enter the pearly gates, please greet me with a pat on the bottom and say “Personal kings X!”
I love you, Daddy,
Deda Marie Now, reader, what are some memories you have of a loved
one no longer with us?