Seven

It's amazing how much life can change in seven years. Seven years ago today, I was having a pretty good day, and then I all of a sudden was having a horrible day. Horrible. The day is pretty vivid in my memory even through everything that has happened since then.

I miss my Dad so often, and I see him in my boys all the time: They have his smile. I also know that part of the reason I was so attracted to Mark is because he reminds me a lot of my Dad as well. So really, in a small way, I feel like I'm surrounded by Dad.

So in honor of my Dad on this, the seventh anniversary of his passing, I thought it'd be a good time to reminisce about Dad, and make a list of sorts of those things I remember so well.

• I remember as a child growing up in Warsaw, taking the walk through our back yard (and the neighbor's) and going for a walk down to the bait & tackle shop to buy a can of pop with Dad (all of us kids in tow) to share on the walk back to the house.
• Dad absolutely LOVED popcorn, and he used to buy a ton of this Hawkeye popcorn. He'd eat it all the time.
• I remember playing on the loading dock at North Supply Company when we would go to pick him up from work
• When we were kids, Mom always went to bed super early (I now understand why haha), and she would tuck us all in nice and early too. But after she was asleep, we would go and join Dad in the living room on the couch and watch late night TV together.
• Dad loved soccer, and he coached almost all of us kids when we were growing up.
• Family nights at the WCHS pool
• I'll never forget Dad's stories about his German dining experiences when he was stationed overseas.
• Dad was always so patient, never jumping to conclusions, and always wanting to explore all options.
• God bless him, but Dad was horrible at finishing projects. He would start all kinds of them, and then they would just sit unfinished. I remember finally realizing that if we wanted Dad to finish something, we had to start it...and do it WRONG. So then he would fix it and do it right.
• I remember the time we were fishing down at the trestle and I caught this ENORMOUS dogfish. I was SO proud of the thing, even if it was a "swamp beast", so Dad brought it all the way home and put it in the tub, much to Mom's horror lol I really don't recall what ended up happening with it, though. I know we didn't eat it.
• I remember the last conversation I had with Dad. Mark and I were working on the Eleanor house in Worthington, and I couldn't figure out how to light the pilot light. It was a short, sweet conversation, but I remember the last words I said were, "Thanks, Dad, I love you." and he responded with, "Love you too, honey"

I hardly have time to sit and think these days, but these are just a few of the myriad memories I have of my Dad.

Each year, this day seems to change for me. At first, it kinda swallowed me whole, but I feel now like I can kinda breathe through it. I know that as each year passes, we come upon a new definition of normal, but I am thankful that in this new normal, I still have memories like these, and I love that my boys will know these stories about their Grandpa Lance.