CELEBRATING FATHER’S DAY WITH A DAD IN HEAVEN

I lost my dad in a sudden accident 7 years ago,  in July of 2008. It’s still so hard to think about. I always get anxiety as holidays approach, knowing that I’ll celebrate without him here. Father’s Day is one of the hardest simply because it’s his day. I don’t think it’s something I’ll ever get used to & honestly it hasn’t gotten much easier over the years.

My dad was an amazing person & I always looked up to him. He was a great role model, always encouraged us to do our best & had such a positive outlook on life, always seeing the good in bad situations. He always put his needs before ours. He’d serve dinner to everyone else first & happily took the burnt piece of chicken if there was one. “I want you to have the better piece!” was always his response in situations like those. He never complained about ANYTHING. EVER. Ok, he did complain when the phone rang a lot. “It’s never for me!!” he’d say. & we’d just laugh because it was true, haha.

I get sad when I think about all he’s missed… my graduation, my wedding, the birth of Gio & so many other wonderful blessings the future holds. But I also know he would want me to be happy & live in peace knowing he’s in a better place, watching down on us, every moment of every day. Losing my dad has taught me a lot about how to make life really count because you never know when it will be over.

Last year, God gave me a reason to celebrate Father’s Day in a different way– with the birth of our precious gift in February, it was the first Father’s Day I felt relief & comfort in being able to focus on my husband as a new father.  Of course, I still thought about my dad & all our memories, but I also knew he would be so proud to be a grandpa. Proud that Gio will be a Chicago sports fan like he was, loves music like he did & will eventually speak Italian. If there was one thing he loved, it was being Italian, haha. Tom is so great & compassionate during these times. He makes a point to do something in honor of him like making pasta while listening to Louis Prima’s Italian tunes. It makes me realize that although I really miss my dad on Earth, I have so many other things to be grateful for… like being able to celebrate Father’s Day with my husband & son– along with my dad in spirit. It’s important to try not to get caught up in the sadness of missing him, but instead to live life bigger in my dad’s honor. Because that’s what he would want.

I hope if you are having a hard Father’s Day you will read this & think of all you can be thankful for as well. Just focus on the positive because your dad would want you to be happy! Life’s too short. Love you guys.