Today, the 25th April is another sad day for us, as today would have been my Dad’s 86th birthday.
It’s now just over 2 months since my Dad passed away, but just typing these words have started my tears flowing again. It really doesn’t seem like 2 months since Dad died, mind you a lot of that has to do with the fact in that interim time as many of you know, my Mum’s older sister, my Aunt Mae, also passed away. My Aunt Mae’s funeral was just over 2 weeks ago, so I’ve found that since then, I’ve finally been able to grieve for my Dad, as up until then I never really got a chance to grieve because my Aunt Mae was so ill.
Don’t get me wrong, I do not mean I am not grieving for my Aunt Mae as well as my Dad, as I most definitely am, but as you can probably understand, I am really missing my Dad.
I have thought of my Dad every day since he died.
I have shed many tears every day since Dad died.
I have missed my Dad every day since he died.
Yes, Dad’s illness in his final few years meant he was never really the Dad I knew and loved during, but even in those days when his vascular dementia meant he rarely knew us, or had any kind of conversation with us, there was still the odd time when he’d look at me and say, “Hello my lovely young lady” – something he often called me for many years. The days he said that to me became fewer and further apart, but when he did day them, they always brought tears to my eyes…and they most certainly have again tonight as I typed this post. The sad thing is no sooner would he uttered those words than he would become that vacant vessel again which didn’t understand what was going on around him, who was with him or indeed understand that he knew us.
These have been incredibly difficult months for my family, and my Mum in particular – Mum’s struggling to come to terms with the death of my Dad and Aunt Mae over these last couple of months. Therefore I’d ask today, as we remember my Dad on what would have been his birthday, that you continue to pray for us as we continue to grieve the death of two much-loved members of our family.
I love you Dad, and I miss you so much. You’ll always be in my thoughts and firmly in my heart. Dorothy xxx
At 7.13am last Thursday morning, about 15 minutes before my alarm was due to go off, our 
As many of you will know, my Dad passed away last Thursday morning after suffering from 
My week didn’t start well as despite going to bed at a reasonable time on Sunday night, I got only about 2 or 3 hours sleep that night. I remember lying awake getting more and more annoyed that I couldn’t sleep, checking the clock at midnight, 1.40am, 3.20am and 4.30am…thankfully I must have finally fallen asleep as the next thing I knew was the alarm going off at 7am!
I knew the cousin that had died had quite a big family but we were both still very surprised to hear at the funeral that she had 9 children, 28 grandchildren and 33 great-grandchildren! Wow! Given Christmas was just a few weeks ago, hubby and me got talking after the funeral about how mad Christmas and 
Not long after I got to work this morning I got a text from a friend to say his wife had given birth to a gorgeous wee baby boy and both Mum and son were well. My friend was understandably delighted at becoming a dad for the first time. It’s particularly special as they’ve had to cope with two previous miscarriages.
Romans 8:38-39 (New International Version)
