Why

The past three years since losing my father have been eventful to say the least.

I paused at the realization two nights ago that I hadn’t seen my dad in three years. Three whole years on November 19th. That’s 1,095 days. And as I grow older, that number will increase. If I live to 100, that’s more than 75% of my life I'd have spent without him. Percentages are dumb and I doubt I’ll be living to 100, but that percentage looms with a sharp bite. 

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Happy Fatherless Day

This will be my first Father’s Day without my father. A fatherless day, really. I got my first “it’s never too soon to shop for Dad!” email promptly following Mother’s Day, which I’d like to address– do you know how much I procrastinate? It’s May. I’ve been trying to prepare myself for the email invitations to Father’s Day brunches, and “get your Dad something nice for Father’s Day!” commercials, and I’ve never even taken my Dad out to a Father’s Day brunch. Suddenly, though, I wish I could. Or at least meander over the idea in the realm of possibility.

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The Fog Always Clears

Next Friday marks three months since my Dad died but it feels like it was both years ago and just yesterday. Time becomes an entirely new entity when you’re trying to occupy each minute that passes with the intent to make every second more valuable. I can’t imagine this will feel any better in months or years from now, or that it won’t ever stop feeling like it was yesterday. I had a dream last night that he was still alive. I’ve had many, many dreams like that since November 19th. I’ve been told it means that he’s visiting. I grasp onto believing that’s true. 

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Navigating a New Sea

Getting hold of myself the last few months has been difficult. Grieving has been projected to be this wild, emotional, tear-jerking experience but it is so much less hollywood than that. Grieving has been a slow, stagnant process. I honestly don’t even feel as though I’ve stuck my foot in the door to grief yet which is ironically the “first step” to bereavement. It’s been a flip-flop of denial, anger, and sadness but mostly silence.

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