Things Always Look Better in the Morning

I remember this day last year like it was yesterday.  How do you adjust to life without a parent??  Well, life keeps going and stopping the earth's rotation in time is not an option.  As dad said, things always look better in the morning and I wake up every day with the mission of living life with the positive attitude that he so courageously lived his life with until his last day.

At times this year has gone so fast, seeming like just yesterday that dad was here and we were watching baseball together....other times, it seems like a lifetime has passed.  This year has taught me a great deal about my strength, courage and ability to overcome adversity.  I cannot lie, some days, all I want to do is stay in bed and forget everything that has happened!  However, most days, I put on my big girl panties and deal with it!

We spent this day surrounded by family, celebrating dad's memory and wishing he was here to be a part of it - he would have loved seeing our family together.  My Aunt Margie (pictured below with my mom and Matthew) has been such a pillar of strength for us through all of this - I just don't know how we would have gotten through this without her!  We have laughed with her, cried with her and enjoyed an adult beverage (or two, or three) when nothing else could console our breaking hearts.  Thanks Aunt Marge and Uncle Ralph - you are true gems!

We faced this day of sadness and spent time at the cemetery in a what some might consider a non-traditional manner, but I know dad was laughing so hard he was crying with us as he looked down on us toasting his memory.  Cheers to you dad - nothing is the same without you!

Life is Long. It is living that we risk being short on.

I planned to embrace and celebrate turning 40 - that was a year ago.  I don't know that I would call this last year celebrating at every turn, so I am regrouping with 41!  It's hard to believe my dad has been gone almost a year.  It's particularly hard right now, knowing that a year ago, I was sitting in the hospital and I wonder, did I do enough, did I ask the right questions, should I have pushed the doctors harder, should I have not trusted the rehab facility....the guilt can take over.  My advice to others in this situation is that you do the best you can at the time and second guessing the past will only destroy your future....time to take my own advice!


I have a favorite artist, Leigh Standley, who captures the essence of inspiration through greeting cards and gift items.  I discovered a new card on her website recently that inspired me.  No matter how much time we have, it's what we do with it that is most important.