My Dad

Today would have been my Dad's 70th birthday if he had lived this long. He's been gone almost thirteen years and I miss him every day. I was 27 when he died, and not ready to be without a father. There are still a lot of things I wish I could talk to him about. I wish we had had more time together as adults. I hadn't been out of grad school a year when he died, and had not established my adult "completely out on my own and self sufficient" self. I probably would have made fewer mistakes if he had been there through the years.

I think he would be pleased with how things eventually turned out for me. A lot of the things I have been able to accomplish are due to qualities that he encouraged when I was younger, and some of it is because he set a great example for me to follow. He would have been happy that I established my independence on my own, sad to see some of the mistakes I made, felt better when I turned things around and "cleaned up my own mess" unassisted, and glad when I moved back home to Georgia. He would have liked my current husband and enjoyed spending time with him. He would have approved of my going back to school two years ago, and definitely would have been proud of my grades this time around. I wish I could trade all of these "would haves" and still have my Dad here with me.