Carey Burns

Today is the anniversary of my dad's death. It felt like the scars of that loss were finally starting to heal over with a new, pinkish skin, but I was wrong. A friend's mom died last week as did a  beloved coworker and I can't seem to get the last image of my dad out of my head now. So many thoughts are going through my mind lately and I'm reevaluating a lot of things. Life is short. Time just keeps taking what it wants when it wants it. I want to enjoy the time I get. That's pretty much it.

I've been dreaming about my dad a lot lately.  They aren't nightmares and aren't anything horribly emotional.  He's just there, smiling.  I miss him a lot and yesterday was strange without him watching football and hollering with the guys.  As I looked around the table after dinner, it struck me how much older we look.  I don't know if it is all the things this year has put on us or if I just finally took a moment to really, really look at my family.  My youngest niece is almost taller than me, the nephews have abandoned their video games for girlfriends, and my sisters and I have similar twinkle wrinkles.  It made me wonder how long we'll all have to be together and it made me grateful for the time we have.  I think my dad was with us, or his spirit was.  (maybe that's what got my husband so excited about the game???)  At any rate, I'm thankful for the time.