NoJoMo #2

Today is All Souls Day.  In Catholic tradition, today is the day we pray for our beloved dead, as well as any souls who might not have anyone to pray for them.

Today also marks eight years since my father passed away.

When my mother remarried three years ago, she gave me my father’s wedding ring.  Since then, I’ve worn it on my thumb every year from his birthday (Sept. 9) to the anniversary of his death (today).  I hate taking it off, it just reminds me that he’s gone, but it also keeps him more present in my life for those eight weeks each year.

I miss my dad so very much.  I wish my kids had been able to meet him.  My stepfather is a great step-grandfather (and I had a step-grandfather who was very important in my life, albeit for different reasons – my mom’s dad walked out on her mother when she was four years old, and her stepfather essentially raised her and was a great man; David’s middle name is his last name, because I wanted to memorialize him).  But it still hurts me to think that my kids will only know my dad from pictures I show them and stories I tell.  

I’ll try not to be too melancholy today, but it’s challenging.