one year later.
Dearest blog readers,
As most of you know, today is the year anniversary of my father's passing.
i thought it would be appropriate to share with you what my uncle read for me at my dad's service about a year ago.
since you all have been on this journey with me, i decided it was okay to share this with you. after all, your love and support is what has gotten me through this tragedy.
i will never regret being able to say these things to him with all of his family and friends by his side.
he would go on to pass, knowing he was my everything.
thank you for all your love and support over the last year.
truly, means the world.
spending today with my mom & brother...
honoring the best man we knew.
the below is what i read for my dad's 60th birthday, 2 months before he passed.
(i changed a few sentences for his service)
About 2 months ago we threw my dad a surprise 60th birthday party in celebration of his life. He was so surprised and overwhelmed by the amount of people and love that was there that night. The next day he had written me an email saying how it was the best night of his life and how his candle is only going to burn brighter. He also happened to set his own expiration date for 2036. For my dad, that meant he had a heck of a time at his party, and that he knew he would be drinking his gifted wine for quite some time after. Which he was thrilled about none the less. As you could imagine.
I couldn’t find the words to say today because I think everyone in this room knows exactly how I feel about my father. And how deeply sad my family is by this tragedy.
So, I just printed out some of what I had said in my speech 2 months ago where I am so happy he got a chance to hear it.
Dad, you are my very best friend. You are the most amazing father any girl could ask for. Your sense of humor, and your passion for life, has made me strive to be better. I look up to you in so many different ways, and I love you more and more each day.
You have been my rock and my guidance through everything and I can’t thank you enough for supporting me in everything I do. You have always loved me unconditionally even when I made mistakes.
My favorite memories of you of is when I would come home to a noisy house thinking we were throwing a party of some sort, when in reality it was just you rocking out to Elvis Presley on the karaoke machine, with your head set on, all by yourself, when no one else was home.
Or the nights when I was in college and you would tell me & my friends to wake you up when we returned from the bars, eager to cook us the perfect filet when we got back. I have to tell everyone that when we would come back from being out, we’d wake him up, with one eye open and still half asleep he would say is “are we ready to do this or what” … it still gets me every time.
Dad, hands down, you are the greatest man I have ever known. And I promise I am not just saying that because I want to live with you and mom forever– rent free of course. But because you truly are one in a million.
Every person that meets you is instantly drawn to you. Every gathering we go to, you are always the life of the party and have the best stories to tell because you are the big fish. Your love for people is unconditional and infectious. People are better because they know you. I am better for knowing you. You are the love of my life, the light of my everyday existence, and this world will never be the same.
If there’s one thing I do know for sure is that I loved you more than life itself. All I want to do is hug you and tell you how much I love you and how thankful I am that I had you as my dad. There was no bigger bond then the one we shared. And I love you for that. I love you for the way you loved mom and lit up every time you talked about her, or the way you were so proud of Dre and how he turned into such a great man. I love you for telling me every morning in the kitchen before work how much you love me and were so happy to have me home. I’m so glad I got to hug you everyday and tell you how great you were. I know you know how great you were too, because you would always say “I’m kind of a big deal” which always made me laugh, because I knew it really was true. I just want you to tell me it’s going to be okay. Because you would be the one that normally would do so, or say some silly inappropriate joke that would make everything better.
I know you are up there making people laugh, drinking a fine glass of wine, and cooking for god in the heavens. I don’t think they knew what was coming. But how lucky are they to have you.
We miss you so much here but we know you’re always with us in our hearts. And will never forget all the beautiful memories you made for us.
We love you Dad, and if there was one thing you would say right now to everyone is, “there better be some good food at the after party.”
I couldn’t find the words to say today because I think everyone in this room knows exactly how I feel about my father. And how deeply sad my family is by this tragedy.
So, I just printed out some of what I had said in my speech 2 months ago where I am so happy he got a chance to hear it.
Dad, you are my very best friend. You are the most amazing father any girl could ask for. Your sense of humor, and your passion for life, has made me strive to be better. I look up to you in so many different ways, and I love you more and more each day.
You have been my rock and my guidance through everything and I can’t thank you enough for supporting me in everything I do. You have always loved me unconditionally even when I made mistakes.
My favorite memories of you of is when I would come home to a noisy house thinking we were throwing a party of some sort, when in reality it was just you rocking out to Elvis Presley on the karaoke machine, with your head set on, all by yourself, when no one else was home.
Or the nights when I was in college and you would tell me & my friends to wake you up when we returned from the bars, eager to cook us the perfect filet when we got back. I have to tell everyone that when we would come back from being out, we’d wake him up, with one eye open and still half asleep he would say is “are we ready to do this or what” … it still gets me every time.
Dad, hands down, you are the greatest man I have ever known. And I promise I am not just saying that because I want to live with you and mom forever– rent free of course. But because you truly are one in a million.
Every person that meets you is instantly drawn to you. Every gathering we go to, you are always the life of the party and have the best stories to tell because you are the big fish. Your love for people is unconditional and infectious. People are better because they know you. I am better for knowing you. You are the love of my life, the light of my everyday existence, and this world will never be the same.
If there’s one thing I do know for sure is that I loved you more than life itself. All I want to do is hug you and tell you how much I love you and how thankful I am that I had you as my dad. There was no bigger bond then the one we shared. And I love you for that. I love you for the way you loved mom and lit up every time you talked about her, or the way you were so proud of Dre and how he turned into such a great man. I love you for telling me every morning in the kitchen before work how much you love me and were so happy to have me home. I’m so glad I got to hug you everyday and tell you how great you were. I know you know how great you were too, because you would always say “I’m kind of a big deal” which always made me laugh, because I knew it really was true. I just want you to tell me it’s going to be okay. Because you would be the one that normally would do so, or say some silly inappropriate joke that would make everything better.
I know you are up there making people laugh, drinking a fine glass of wine, and cooking for god in the heavens. I don’t think they knew what was coming. But how lucky are they to have you.
We miss you so much here but we know you’re always with us in our hearts. And will never forget all the beautiful memories you made for us.
We love you Dad, and if there was one thing you would say right now to everyone is, “there better be some good food at the after party.”
RIP big pimpin poppa.
forever in our hearts.
08.09.09
2 comments:
That was tremendously moving. And it also explains why you are such a wonderful person. I am thrilled to have met you in South Africa, and I hope you can make it up to SB with us when I'm there.
been thinking about you and wish I could give you more than just a cyber hug! xoxo
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