Remembering My Dad

18 years ago today, my father passed away.  I was 14 years old - and it pretty much turned my entire world upside down. I have written a few times about it, but today - I am not.  Today, I am going to talk about what a great day I had with Mr. J.

I try and spend time with each of the boys on their own.  With Mr. J in school, I have LOTS of time with Mr. K, but not a lot with Mr. J.  I try and make sure that I schedule time alone with him, so that he still gets some mama time too.

Today, Mr. K was going to his grandparents, and it was the perfect time for some Mr. J time.  Every year on the anniversary of my dad's death, I take my mom to the graveyard. Some years the kids come with me, and sometimes they don't.  I never FORCE them to come, but I do try to encourage it.  Today, Mr. J really wanted to come with us ( I am pretty sure that the ice cream counter at the general store next to the graveyard had just a little something to do with that decision).

When we got out of the jeep, he immediately ran to the water. He loves to watch the boats going by.  Then, he wanted to water the flowers - a few years ago a pump was installed so visitors could get water without having to walk down to the river (it's a bit of an incline to get to, and I have actually slipped a few times). Once he had watered, he found some wildflowers growing and picked them for Papa Rick.

When that was done, we went to the store for ice cream, and he wanted to sit on the dock to watch the water and the boats.

While I am still sad, knowing that I don't have time with my dad anymore, and the boys will never actually KNOW him, it was such a great time to have with my little guy - and made today just a little bit easier.