03/26/2026
Fifteen years ago today, March 25, 2011, my dad passed away.
I’ve been trying all day to find the right words… and I still don’t think I have them. I feel like there’s so much I want to say, and I just can’t get it all out yet.
Days like today, when I’m carrying so much… I feel his absence the most.
But I also feel him.
There’s a memory I keep coming back to… him standing behind me with his hand on my shoulder while I was working on the computer. He wouldn’t say anything… just that quiet signal that something wasn’t finished yet, that I needed to look again… go a little deeper… make sure it was right.
And I still feel that.
In how I work… how I think… how I can’t leave things halfway done.
I’m also in awe when I think about everything he did… working all day, stopping to shop on the way home, coming home to cook… fixing things, working on the yard… somehow making it all happen like it was nothing. His time management game was on point… something I unfortunately did not inherit.
That need to make sure everything is right… that comes from him… his attention to words and grammar… combined with my mom’s eye for detail and aesthetics… which makes my perfection tendencies next level.
It’s a blessing and a curse…
I know I have more to say… I’m just not there yet.
And here I am… minutes away from midnight… still trying to get this right.
And honestly, I’m grateful for a little unexpected help today… I’m not sure I would’ve even gotten this much out without it.
But today… He’s present. 🤍
I love and miss you, Daddio.
