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!