"It's a Beautiful Life"- Genevieve Galvan Frenes

So it came like the wind…

This feeling that my dad was not here.

It’s been two years…

An important event came up and knowing that he wasn’t here, my eyes swelled with tears and I swallowed the lump in my throat that wasn’t there a second ago. That’s how grief is… even after the years pass.

I thought I was strong. Most think I am, but times like these, when the tears fall and the sorrow engulfs me, I know that grief is still with me. It follows me like a quiet fog that lifts most of the time so I can find my way around, but then settles back down at the oddest times, reminding me that it will always be there, no matter how pleasant my face appears to the world, or how strong others perceive I am.

So today, I was reminded that I am here, and my dad is not. It’s an ache that always lingers back in the darkness, but continually resurfaces on days when I know he’d want to be present. I am now the representative of the family, the face that connects back to him. And I know those closest to me, feel his loss just like myself, but they too put on their happy face, to pull through those difficult times…those moments that make you want to go back in time just to say…

I love you, dad.