Except he isn't here to celebrate with us anymore but I like to remember it anyway and will always mention it to my sisters and Ashley when the 5th of July comes around each year.
For a long time after he died I was very sad and could hardly talk about it to anybody but now fifteen years later the words come a lot easier but there is still a tear in my eyes as I write this.
I find that it is good to remember him and reflect but not to dwell on it. Life is what it is and we can't change it, I know that my Dad is watching down on us and knows that we are okay.
(This is the last photo I have with my Dad. I was 17 at the time)
I decided recently that I wanted to record more of my memories of him, as I get older the recollections of him are fading and I don't want to forget. So I have resolved to start a journal of memories, maybe one day Emily and Joshua might like to read it.
So start of the collection, I do remember that my dad was a health nut and did not have the taste for sugar, so much so that at times when we would make a cake to celebrate a family birthday we would only put icing on half of it so that he didn't have to endure the icing that we all thought was glorious. I particularly remember doing this with a carrot cake one year. Lucky for me I didn't inherit this one and love a good bit of icing.
Happy Birthday Dad