Yesterday was the one year anniversary of my father’s passing. You might be able to understand what that is like. If I could send my father a letter I would write:

Dear Dad, it’s been a year since you passed and there hasn’t been a day that I haven’t thought about you and us and life.

 When you moved on, you created some space that needed to be filled.  I’ve done what I could to carry your legacy on, but the shoes you left behind are so big to fill.

I’ve made some big decisions after you left and I’ve changed how many things in my life, my mind and in my heart.  I don’t suffer distractions like a used to and I’m a lot more focused on not only the important things in life, but also any task that I happen to be working on.

Dad, I know you are around us, I can feel you when my nephews’ smiles, in the garden that I tendered for you, in the friends that still call for you and in fruits that I eat off of the trees that you planted. 

Tonight we have a mass to mark the first year of your passing.  I know you will be there watching your family and friends gathering in your honour.  There will be a space to sit next to me if you like, but I know you have many that you would like to spend time with as your thousands of friends all miss you.

Life isn’t the same without you, but know that I am doing all that I can to carry your legacy forward.  Perhaps, that is why there has been such a change in my mind and in my heart over the last year. 

Dad, I miss you.