4 Years Today: 10 Things My Dad Would Totally Dig in 2019


Today is the day that I mark the loss of the first most important man in my life. I know it's trite to say this but man, I can't believe it's been 4 years. I sure have come a long way in this journey we call grief. From barely being able to get out of bed, so heavy I was with sadness, to today, where for the most part I have smiled in his memory.

Of course, I have shed a few tears. I always will. But above all, today I feel so completely full of gratitude. For having him as a dad, for all the time we did spend together, for having the fortune of taking care of him when he was preparing to go, and for being there by his side when he took his last breath. Gifts, each and all.

But enough of that. I'm going in a different direction entirely this year as I gather us together to remember my Dad. I've been thinking lately about all the things we would be talking about if he were still here. There are so many things that he would be totally all about in the year 2019. Here's 10.

Ten Things My Dad Would Totally Dig in 2019

  1. President Trump. Oh man, my dad would be all over this administration. He would be sporting a Trump 2020 t-shirt, he'd be nodding his head 'yes' to Fox News, and he'd be having some very lively debates with me about it. They would be civil, fair, and above the belt. We'd end them with "I love you."
  2. Sam Ehlinger, Tom Herman, and the entire Longhorn football situation. He'd have lamented that loss to LSU with me, given a play-by-play of where we fucked up, and would have had the opinion that we should be proud of our performance.
  3. His youngest grandson, my boy Silas. His shenanigans as a 4-5 year old would bring happy tears to my dad's eyes. He would remind him so much of himself and my brother as a boy and he would assure me that he will turn out just fine.
  4. My writing career. He was my biggest fan when it came to my writing and he would be so super impressed with the fact that I actually make money doing it now. He'd want to know about every client, would read every published piece, and brag about me to anyone who would listen.
  5. My brother's teaching career. He would be thrilled with my brother's position as a high school math teacher and would be offering him endless support, encouragement, and absolutely unfiltered advice about how to deal with troublesome students. 
  6. The trajectory that his great-nephews are on.  Playing golf, the military, excelling at football, and self sufficiency...he'd have loved all of it. He would also get a total kick out of the carousing of the youngest one, whose appetite for girls and partying was closely rivaled by my dad's at that age. 
  7. Netflix. He lived to see Netflix start streaming but the he missed the explosion of Netflix originals. My brother and I would be getting regular recommendations via typo-riddled text about a series or film that was "superbly" acted, written, or casted. Sometimes, he'd get a glimmer of a tear in his eye talking about a particularly moving film.
  8. The invisible fence we have at our house. He would be surprised that I would use a shock system to keep my dog in my yard but would agree that given the HOA restrictions about actual fencing, I had no choice. He would want to know exactly how it was installed, precisely what it did to my dog if she got out of bounds, and exactly how high my dog jumped the first time she ran into the line. He'd draw an outline of my yard and ask me to place the fence, the sound warning zone, and the shock zone. He might even hold the collar and get zapped himself just to see how it feels. 
  9. My husband's most recent big fun purchases. These include a tiny sailboat that Dennis sails around our 'lake' (in Texas we'd call that a pond, sweetheart) and a two-seater convertible BMW. He would want to use both of them immediately, if not sooner and he would regale Dennis with tales of his own midlife sports car purchases, of which there were two. 
  10. Being alive. I think he'd probably dig this part the most. As would we. 

Miss you Dad. Every. Damn. Day. 

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