Saying Goodbye: My Father

Several weeks ago I mentioned in a Sunday Post that if there were fewer posts from me, or fewer comments, it was due to some family issues. My dad had been dealing with some serious health issues since last December and unfortunately was dealt additional challenges this year and it was too much to overcome. My precious father passed away on Saturday, June 23, 2018. 

The last two months have been hard, and the last two weeks have sometimes felt unbearable, but there is also some relief in knowing that there is no more sickness or pain or hospitals and procedures. There is comfort in that.

My father was a rarity. One of those pure souls you encounter very rarely. The kind of person who was above all pettiness, without ego, and never spoke unkindly of others.

He was reserved – often a man of few words. But he didn’t need many words, because his entire life was an example of how to live with dignity and honor. He was hard-working and honest with an impeccable professional reputation. It simply never would have occurred to him to knowingly do the wrong thing – in any aspect of his life.

My father was rather outnumbered in our house of all girls. But I don’t think he ever minded. When the family gathered, and “the girls” were all together (Mom, my sisters, and me), Daddy would just sit back and watch and take it all in – often with a smile on his face.

Never did my father need to be the center of attention. But he was always quietly there, a constant force in my life. A kind, steady, loving man who did more to show me about the kind of person I wanted to be than any other person in my life.

In the years to come, I will remember all these things about my father, but I will also remember the small things. The things that always make me smile because they were just him: the way he referred to “over yonder” and things being around the “co-ner” (not corner). His flannel shirts, his occasional cigar, and the fact that he always carried a handkerchief. His love of classic cars, the way he enjoyed a scrambled egg sandwich, and his sometimes surprising sense of humor.

My father worked hard, he loved his family. And he adored our mother.

And he will be forever loved and missed.