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Life is a conundrum. You spend your whole childhood wanting to grow up to be an adult. Only to be an adult and wish you were a child again. No one prepares you for the hardships that come with growing old. Though there are many, losing a parent is a type of pain no one can brace you for. No one can prepare you for losing your dad. The man who helped raise you to be the person you are today. The man who helped you get ready for school every morning as a child, the man who brought you to CCD every Saturday or drove you to your friends' houses, the man who taught you how to ride a bike with no training wheels or taught you how to drive a car for the first time even if it was to help him plow in the middle of a blizzard unlicensed and no permit.
He was the dad who would insist on playing horseshoes with you at every party but then be mad and proud at the same time if he lost. The dad who brought you quading all around the bogs at night with a flashlight to find deer. The dad who brought you for your first motorcycle ride before age 8. This is a pain so deep it hurts to breathe. Our dad was nothing short of the most selfless person you will ever meet and to say our heart is broken thinking of all the good times is an understatement. He was loved by so many people from his past and present. He has left a mark on so many hearts and he will be missed by everyone, especially my brother and I. We love you dad. We hope you're up there happy and healthy. We hope your mom and dad welcomed you with open arms into the heavens. We hope Grammie saved you a room in her big yellow house and we hope you brought Haley to run around in her yard. We hope Ronny is there too and you're both cracking jokes up there like the good old days. We love you so much. This too isn't goodbye, it's I'll see ya later.
Love your kids
PS.- I want to thank you for all the voicemails, I know I was so bad at answering the phone and even though you knew I'd call you back you still always left me a voicemail. I'm so glad I never deleted them. I get to listen to your voice wish me a Merry Christmas, a Happy New year, I get to listen to you ask about Alanna's cheer competition, I have one of you congratulating me for closing on my first home with Matt. I can play that anytime something big happens in my life because you never actually mentioned the house; you just said congratulations and how proud of me you were. I get to listen to you wish my husband a happy Father's Day, and another of you just saying hi and asking how I am. But my favorite of them all is the of you singing me happy birthday. I never knew how important it would be for me to be able to hear you say my name. So thank you, they are truly the blessing. I love you endlessly. Watch over Joe, myself and your grandkids. We will keep your memory alive. Until we meet again daddio.
Love,
"Your darling daughter"