It’s already fall, Dad –

It’s been too long. I don’t even know where to start. Some things have changed, but yet some are still the same. We are still running the kids around to their extracurricular activities. However, there are times I am in the passenger seat as Dillon gets his drive time in. We are still hearing music in our home, but instead of just percussion we now hear a trumpet. I decided to go back to work, and I am still enjoying that. Well, maybe not so much the morning time but once I get to work I am good.

I thought of you on Monday on the opening day of rifle season. I was driving to work and I noticed a blind (or treehouse as Mom would say) very similar to yours. It didn’t take long for my mind to picture yours and the days of looking out the kitchen window to see your orange stocking hat. The days of listening for a gunshot and wondering how big was the buck.

I also thought about you as memories popped up on my phone on Veteran’s Day. Pictures of you and the kids at the Veteran’s Day program at school. I miss those days. I miss those days of looking over at you full of pride that your grandchildren’s school did such an awesome job of honoring the veterans. The look on your face of not wanting to get emotional as a band student played “Taps”.

I am glad the memories will always be there, and I do cherish them. I pray that Dillon and Lia can continue to recall them as the years past. Besides memories, I often think about how you would react to a situation or what you would think. A few weeks ago, my daily devotional had a message about what do you want. It included the story of Jesus and the blind man. How Jesus knew what the blind man wanted but still asked him, “what do you want me to do for you?” Jesus wanted the blind man to declare what he wanted and to state what he believed Jesus could do. Sometimes in life we need to make declarations. I began to think about what do I truly want out of life. I want to create memories with my children and continue to do so despite how old they are. I want to stop buying them material things and instead have opportunities to create those memories. I want to have days where my family and I just stop and enjoy each others’ company. Days when we all just laugh so much our stomachs and faces hurt from laughing. I want time when JJ and I enjoy each other’s company without talking about the kids. I want quality quiet time with God. I want to continue to create memories with Mom. As you know, our time is so valuable and so many times we just waste it away.

Dad, I hope you got what you wanted out of life. I know your time was cut a little short, but I think you could look back and feel accomplished. You could feel you lived a good life. Things didn’t always go the way you thought it should, but you learned something from the situation/circumstance. I am proud of the life you gave us Dad. I am still proud to call you Dad.