Memories & Nostalgia

This post was originally written on September 19th of this year, before I moved the blog to this new location:

It’s a little after midnight, so it’s officially September 19th. I’ve been thinking about it on and off all day, Dad’s birthday is today, and he would have been 83. Dad wasn’t much for having a fuss made over him, but Mom never liked a birthday to go by without some kind of celebration, and Dad loved Mom enough to go along with it.

I really don’t have big memories about his family birthday celebrations, but do remember his last birthday 2 years ago. Much of the Dad I knew had been slowly slipping away due to several strokes over a 5 year period, but he was sitting up in his chair when I went to see him. He was wearing a blue flannel shirt, probably one I had given him on a previous birthday. I gave him a bottle of his favorite aftershave with a balloon tied to it, he loved balloons, they had become a tradition. He tried so hard to communicate, but I was happy just to see him smile warmly at me. I’ll never forget that day. I didn’t know then that my daddy would only be here for exactly one more month to the day. Happy birthday Daddy, I miss you and look forward to celebrations to come in heaven!!