missing Dad

[atlanta1]

Hello everybody. My husband, kids and I just got back from a week at the beach. This time last year (I guess I'll be saying that alot going forward), my parents and my sister and her family were all at the beach with us for vacation. That was life before Dad got sick. Anyhow, last week my 8 year old son found an almost perfect good sized seashell - the kind that curls in - a few inches long. I asked what he was going to do with it and he wanted to take it to the cemetary and leave it with Papa. I had been telling the boys about trips when I was young and how Papa loved the beach and so on. I missed Dad so much on this trip - I pictured him alongside the kids fishing on the pier and doling out "one more dollar" at the arcade. I pray that I can keep driving home to the boys what they meant to him. My emotions have been in high gear this week. I think it is because it's getting close to "this time last year" when Dad's back started to hurt. It was the beginning of a new and unfamiliar path, and we didn't have a clue what we were in for.

[blueeye]

I understand and I am so sorry. The sea shell is so sweet.

[shineladysue]

It's so hard to do all those things without our loved ones. Things just will never be as they were. I guess this is part of the healing process as we go through life reflecting on how things were when they were with us. We have to learn to enjoy those things in a new way , but I think it's good for us to remember too.. It takes time. Many hugs to you today, I understand.

Hugs,

Sue

[MomsGirl]

I so completely understand how you feel - and we just left a seashell at the cemetery today for Nana. Like you, we had a family vacation at the beach (my parents' 50th anniversary) exactly one year before we lost Mom...we had no idea what the upcoming year would bring...it all happened so fast, too fast...

Keep those memories alive for your little ones, I know how painful this is, all of it. We are here...