Menay O; mom to 4, Christian and thrift shopper on the side…

September 3 is my dad’s birthday. I forget how old he would have been, don’t shame me, I’ve never been able to remember my dad’s age.  What I don’t forget is that date. From June 16-August 1 it seems we have birthdays every week in my family. It begins with my sister and mother and ends with Samantha. We had a month’s reprieve from birthday celebrations until daddy’s birthday on September 3.

We always celebrated his birthday on Labor Day weekend, makes sense since that’s when the 3rd usually fell. When my parents moved to NJ we always celebrated the Sunday of the weekend to avoid coming home in holiday traffic on the Monday. Today, my Facebook feed had a picture of my dad and me from 6 years ago celebrating his birthday. He looked so happy and healthy. It’s a great picture but I didn’t share it. It’s difficult. I miss him. I miss everything about him. His laugh, the way he would have a story for every situation in life, how proud he was of just about everything we did; even my thrift finds. My dad’s mother was of Scottish background and daddy used to say he was “frugal” (aka: cheap) because of her and the way he was raised and of course his Scottish heritage. I wish I could tell him about us going to Sanibel Island with my mom. He would have gotten a kick out of us all in that condo. While at Sanibel my mom and I spent a lot of time in the water which was the Gulf of Mexico. The water was so warm it was unreal, the closer you were to the shore the warmer it was, like bath water. My dad used to like the watch the pelicans in Sanibel. They would fly very close to the top of the Gulf then dive head first in the water to catch a fish. They were extremely graceful believe it or not. We saw so many of them, I do believe we were in a way watching my dad who is now able to do whatever he wants even fly.

My dad is now with the Heavenly Father watching us. I know he sees everything but I still miss talking to him and having him here. I think the worst thing about someone passing over is not them actually dying. When they pass on it’s to be celebrated as they’re now with God the Father, living in the Heavenly kingdom for eternity. I love Billy Graham’s quote, “Our last breath on earth is followed by our first breath in Heaven.” I think that image is just beautiful. The worst thing about a loved one passing on is the day to day living without them. The permanency  That’s when the tears come; for me anyway.

So in 2 days it will be September 3. And we’ll remember daddy in our own ways and even have a laugh or two.