Another Thanksgiving Day

This is the second Thanksgiving since my dad died, and I still miss him. This is a very difficult time of year for me for a number of reasons, and missing my dad makes it even harder. His 76th birthday was yesterday, which is young by today's standards. I have clients in their 80's who are still vibrant and healthy, and I know my dad would have been still full of energy if cancer hadn't taken him.

I guess I am thankful I had him as long as I did, but a part of me feels lost without him here. I miss his laughter, his voice, and his humor. Every Thanksgiving Day for as long as I can remember, he was the first one to call me in the morning. I could always count on hearing from him, no matter where I was.

I am also thankful I still have my mom, who I still call almost every day. Well, at least 5 or 6 times a week anyway. As much as an influence my father was, she was certainly instrumental in my development . Mom was always there. She was a SAHM, and I could always count on her being there when I got home from school. She was the one who listened to me, bandaged me when I got a scrape, made sure I was clean when I went to bed, and taught me how to tie my shoes. I spent more time with her my first 10 years of life, because my dad was in the Air Force, and was gone a lot.

Mom taught me how to cook, sew, and take care of myself. Dad taught me how to love and respect a woman, and showed me by loving my mom. I'm thankful they chose to stay married for 48 years before he died. Even though they had issues of their own, they stuck through the hard times and made the best of the good times. I know in her heart, my mom is still married to him. They loved each other deeply, and taught us about love.

I'm thankful I have 5 siblings who love me and still stay in contact with me regularly. I'm thankful all of us have chosen to stay married to our first spouses, even when it's been hard. I'm thankful we all love each other and are not fighting over piddly stuff.

On this Thanksgiving Day, I am thinking about family, and how temporary life is. Life is short...enjoy what you can.