Death sucks

I lost my dad 2 years ago this June. He had been sick for about 6 months before he passed away. He was diabetic, fighting a nasty infection, and just had a below the knee amputation. He had a lot going against him so I knew he had probably less than a year left with us. I was never expecting him to leave us without final goodbyes. Death sucks no matter the circumstances, but I feel like when it happens unexpectedly, it makes you appreciate life more and not to take things for granted. To always say “I love you” to your loved ones. Never go to bed angry…live life to the fullest…and make bountiful memories. As I am sitting here writing this, we are watching one of his favorite movies, “Spaceballs”. I have a new found love for this movie, thanks to my dad! Missing him isn’t the problem…it’s knowing that he will never come back that’s killing me.

The hardest part of all of this is trying to explain to my kids that he isn’t coming back…but on the same hand trying to have them understand that he will always be with us. My six year old son is struggling with this. Some nights he cries himself to sleep because he misses his grandpa. Almost daily he talks about how much he misses him. Breaks my heart…but some of the stuff he says makes me laugh. A couple of weeks ago, he and another boy (whom he had just met seconds before) were talking about bugs as they were walking. Out of nowhere, my son tells this kid that his grandpa died because he ate too much pepper and had to have his leg cut off. Pepper, really?!? Lol, I mean he did eat a lot pepper. He would put pepper on anything and everything! But that definitely didn’t cause his death. It made me laugh but also broke my heart because it was seriously out of nowhere that he said this. It just made me think…how often does he really think of his grandpa.

My son is the young one wearing the bright green shirt and rain boots. My daughter is the one…well…the only girl in the picture 😁

We had my dad cremated. At that time I had 2 necklaces made for my daughter and I.

Glass blown necklace with some of my Dad’s ashes

I wasn’t sure what to do for my son until just recently! Unfortunately my mom didn’t keep much of his shirts, but I was able to find some fabric and a shirt that represents him. I cannot wait to see it finished, but most importantly I hope my son finds comfort in it! Stayed tuned for an update of the final product!