!Empower!

Happy 36th Anniversary Mom and Dad. I still feel you with me every single day, Dad.

Dad passed in such a way that left our family feeling blessed. It was the greatest gift he left for us, as his spirit had reached a point of such fulfillment that it outgrew the capacity to be contained within his body. Without a doubt it was the most painful and trying time as well in all our lives, but if you can imagine it, one filled with peace, serenity, completion, and acceptance of a will bigger than our own.

I learned so much about Dad after he passed, from the condolences of family and friends, the admiration for him, and the sheer emotion and sadness that emanated from them in regards to his affect on them in life. I saw a pain in other's that connected and resonated with my own, I heard them speak of him as a peer, giving me insight to a side of Dad, that I could never have seen without him having to move on and upwards. He was slowly being uncovered to me as the person I never realized I was modeling myself after. I really was becoming my parents, and everything I had attributed in my younger age to them in the vain of being uncool, and naggy, removed its veil to me to uncover a pure, passionate, and unconditional love.

Without a doubt I still hold to the fact that Dad lived his finest days with cancer, relieving himself of all these false pressures we fret about daily, he let it go, he accepted his fate, he accepted it with a smile that was the most sincere I had ever witnessed, he accepted with the ability to see that it was an opportunity to do the one thing he told me on his bed just days before he passed, "the chance to inspire people". I could write this for pages and pages, and it still couldn't do the justice to the admiration I hold for Dad, and while I'm thankful I've realized it, part of me still hurts for the fact that I couldn't have fully realized it while he was still here. But he lives on without a doubt, and he lives on to push me, to guide me, and to let me be his living testimony, and I'll carry that with me for the rest of my life, and won't sacrifice that for anything, ever.

Thanks Dad
Thank you for it all
Thank you for the back to back sleeping
the advice, whether i understood it or not
Thank you for the sports for waiting in the car to pick me up with a patience much greater than my own
for the unwavering support in any pursuit I chased as a child
I couldn't understand the magnitude of your silent but resounding presence
Thank you for the love of food
cause "it's never wasting money if you spend it on food"
the opportunity to share a meal of blessings with those you love the most
an opportunity to provide for the very family you would sacrifice anything for
Thank you for scrubbing my face in the shower
for teaching me to strive to be a person of substance
a person in a position to help those less fortunate
Thank you for the bowl haircuts
Thank you for listening to me that one night on the way to the airport
and making me feel relevant in the family
Thank you for becoming my close friend
Thank you for teaching me what truly was important in life
for it guides me now and the life I now lead
I've got you at my shoulder now
I wish they knew that there's no stopping us now
There's a million more things I could thank you for
but I'll take your advice
instead of talking about it
I'll just put it into action
Can't wait for the world to see what we've got in stored for them
Thanks Dad.