This is gonna be a sad one....

Sorry for the bummer post, but it's that time of year. Today is October 29th. To most of you, this day means nothing more then any other Monday. But to a select few, it means everything. It is the day, 17 years ago, that my father died. I'm not going to go into the details of that day. Everyone who needs to know already does. But it was the day that changed my life, and my family, forever. I miss my dad every single day. Some days less, and on those days I'm grateful for the 14 years I had with him. Other days, I'm sad that my kids will never know their Grandpa. My dad would have been the best Grandpa! Seriously, he would've rocked at it. And it's total crap that my kids, and my niece and nephews miss out. Yes, they have family that loves and adores them, grandpas included. But it's not the same as the awesomeness that was my dad. A lot of things changed when he died. So much more then most people realize. My sister Heidi moved away, and we didn't see her for several years. My mom had a tough time dealing with the loss of her husband. She STILL has a tough time with it. She will until the day she gets to be with him again. They were a forever kind of thing. My sisters and I were lucky to have each other. It definitely changed us all. But it wasn't just us that things were never the same for. Some friends stopped coming over so much, because it was too sad, and those friendships were lost, or changed. Some family members came around even more, and some friends became like family. Take my friend Jennifer, for instance. She is not just my closest friend because we have been friends for 23 years. Also, because aside from my mom and sisters, she is the only other person in the world who knows every detail of that day. She was there that morning, having slept over the night before. She literally stood next to me through the entire ordeal. She held my hand at his funeral. And that makes her family. There is not a single day that goes by that I don't think of my dad. Thankfully, it's usually with a smile from a happy memory. But even then, I sure do miss my daddy....