Friends & Family

It's been incredible -
Hearing from all the relatives, the friends who are like family.

Please don't anyone feel bad if you haven't responded or don't know what to say.
some people have written or sent cards. some have spoken in person when they see me. some have emailed. Some I think are just thinking about dad & his life. Taking a bit of time out to reflect on the relationship you had with him, with us, with your own family and friends - I think that is a great memorial. An honor to be in each other's lives and to learn lessons from each other. Speaking words simply makes it easier for others to hear you, but doesn't necessarily make others understand you.

We all mourn in our own way.
It doesn't matter what you say to us - mourning is personal and my way of mourning is probably not the same as yours. the same as my relationship to my father is mine - no one else, not my brother or sisters had the same relationship. Strange how a few years changes things.
I know we laugh at things most people don't laugh at. But it's not out of disrespect - it's out of joy - finding the humor in our lives. And hopefully, in our deaths.
I suggested I'd prefer peaceful death in my sleep - a friend of mine suggested massive heart failure while riding her bike at top speed down a hill - I might have to sign up for her method! And I'd be laughing all the way... and I suspect dad would in some way have enjoyed that much more. 'Youth is wasted on the Young'

Relationships look different from other people's perspectives.
My relationship to dad looks different when others tell me what he has said, or what they have seen.
communication again. or a lack thereof.
I hear things that dad never told me. So I keep learning about dad.

Please think of stories about dad - and share them with us.
Because you all saw a side of him we never did.