Happy Birthday Dad, I love and miss you, Rest In Peace
Today would have been my Father's 71st Birthday. I cannot help but think, what would I be doing today were he still here? How would the days leading up to today have been different? He was notoriously hard to shop for, in that, he really wanted for nothing as far as physical posessions were concerned. I think he would have wanted a nice dinner with the family. One tonight and probably one this past weekend or this coming weekend so that the whole family could come.
January was always a big month for our family, Erin and I's Anniversary on the 13th, my neice Lisa's Birthday on the 14th, Dad's Birthday on the 20th, and Frank's Birthday on the 28th. We would always get together for the January Birthdays. Mom would make whatever Dad requested and I would search in vain to find my father a lemon pie, not lemon marangue, just plain lemon. This is a hard pie to find in the winter moths, let me tell you.
Sunday after I dropped off Lyric at her Mom's house I had to stop at the food store for some last minute things before the week began. You know; yogurt for breakfast, cold cuts for lunch, that sort of thing. The bakery is right next to the deli in Stop N' Shop and I took a quick look, they had lemon crunch pie. Not exactly it, but close enough. I actually bought one for him the last time I saw one and he enjoyed it. I picked it up and held it in my hands, I'm not really a huger fan of lemon pie, peach is my favorite, I was going to buy it though and have a slice for Dad, but I thought the sight of it might be too much for Mom.
She wanted to get him a big flat screen tv this year. So that he could really enjoy watching Giants games and DVDs. That was her big goal for his present this year. I was supposed to help her pick one out and set it up. But it just wasn't meant to be.
I'm just glad he got to see the Giants' Super Bowl run last year and that I can say that he watched his last Super Bowl with me at my house, and that we saw Big Blue win the whole damn thing. And that I got to celebrate that with my Dad one last time. I am happy to say that I watched all three of their Super Bowl victories at his side.
I'm probably rambling here but I honestly don't give a fuck. Chances are if you're reading this you're used to this by now.
He would be excited about President Obama's inauguration today. He loved history and I know he would have appreciated the huge historical significance that this carries. He had asked me around this time last year who I wanted the next president to be and I told him I was looking towards Senator Obama to lead us into the future. He had asked me if I thought the country was ready for that and I told them that I sure as hell hoped they were.
What am I doing tonight? I'm going to Jiu-Jitsu class like I do every Tuesday night. Is this the right thing to do, is this what I should be doing? I don't know, I just know that when I started training I said that I was doing this as a tribute to him. To take all my pain, anger, and depression and focus it into something positive, something that would make me a better person. Call it bullshit if you want, but I know what I know. And I know that as I am stretching before every class I squeeze the tattoo I got in his honor on my left calf and then squeeze my right wrist where I had tattooed "What are you waiting for?" in my Mother's handwriting. So maybe you cannot understand why I'm going to class tonight but I know he can. And that is all I need to know.
Happy Birthday Dad, I love and miss you with all my heart, may you rest in peace.
January was always a big month for our family, Erin and I's Anniversary on the 13th, my neice Lisa's Birthday on the 14th, Dad's Birthday on the 20th, and Frank's Birthday on the 28th. We would always get together for the January Birthdays. Mom would make whatever Dad requested and I would search in vain to find my father a lemon pie, not lemon marangue, just plain lemon. This is a hard pie to find in the winter moths, let me tell you.
Sunday after I dropped off Lyric at her Mom's house I had to stop at the food store for some last minute things before the week began. You know; yogurt for breakfast, cold cuts for lunch, that sort of thing. The bakery is right next to the deli in Stop N' Shop and I took a quick look, they had lemon crunch pie. Not exactly it, but close enough. I actually bought one for him the last time I saw one and he enjoyed it. I picked it up and held it in my hands, I'm not really a huger fan of lemon pie, peach is my favorite, I was going to buy it though and have a slice for Dad, but I thought the sight of it might be too much for Mom.
She wanted to get him a big flat screen tv this year. So that he could really enjoy watching Giants games and DVDs. That was her big goal for his present this year. I was supposed to help her pick one out and set it up. But it just wasn't meant to be.
I'm just glad he got to see the Giants' Super Bowl run last year and that I can say that he watched his last Super Bowl with me at my house, and that we saw Big Blue win the whole damn thing. And that I got to celebrate that with my Dad one last time. I am happy to say that I watched all three of their Super Bowl victories at his side.
I'm probably rambling here but I honestly don't give a fuck. Chances are if you're reading this you're used to this by now.
He would be excited about President Obama's inauguration today. He loved history and I know he would have appreciated the huge historical significance that this carries. He had asked me around this time last year who I wanted the next president to be and I told him I was looking towards Senator Obama to lead us into the future. He had asked me if I thought the country was ready for that and I told them that I sure as hell hoped they were.
What am I doing tonight? I'm going to Jiu-Jitsu class like I do every Tuesday night. Is this the right thing to do, is this what I should be doing? I don't know, I just know that when I started training I said that I was doing this as a tribute to him. To take all my pain, anger, and depression and focus it into something positive, something that would make me a better person. Call it bullshit if you want, but I know what I know. And I know that as I am stretching before every class I squeeze the tattoo I got in his honor on my left calf and then squeeze my right wrist where I had tattooed "What are you waiting for?" in my Mother's handwriting. So maybe you cannot understand why I'm going to class tonight but I know he can. And that is all I need to know.
Happy Birthday Dad, I love and miss you with all my heart, may you rest in peace.