So many milestones to mark in life: significant birthdays, anniversaries and weddings. Today marks a different milestone, a different life event and one that raises memories with a smile and a small twinge of sadness.
18 years Dad, since we said goodbye. Love you always xxx
Today some of my memories of this day 17 years ago are starting to fade, the details less sharp, less present than they have been in the past.
And yet, at other times, my memories of you feel as clear as if they had just happened yesterday
Today I can hear your voice and sense your presence even though 17 years have passed.
Today is simply for quiet reflection and time shared with G and M, the grandchildren I know you’d have loved.
16 years that feel like a lifetime, but, at the same time, have passed in a flash. How is it that it has been that long since I last got to speak to you, to see you, to simply spend some time with you?
16 years that have seen so many changes and I can’t imagine what you’d make of the year we’re in right now. I’ve no doubt you’d be up to your ears embracing the technology of Zoom and FaceTime to see family whilst in the depths of lockdown.
16 years and we’re teetering on the brink of the next stage of our life as G and M grow into incredible young adults that I know you’d be so proud of and start to plan their own next steps.
16 years of making memories without you and yet you are a part of those 16 years nevertheless. Much loved and much missed.
Another year gone, another year making memories that we can’t share and another year missing you. It hardly seems possible that it’s 15 years this year and yet it is.
“…But it’s been
Fourteen years of silence
It’s been
Fourteen years of pain
It’s been
Fourteen years that are gone forever
And I’ll never have again…”
14 years since I last spoke to you; since I heard you laugh out loud at Terry Pratchett books; since you held my hand or shared a story. It’s been a tough year and we’re now missing not only you, but other much-loved family members to spend time with. 14 years too long xxx
13 years:
13 years
Everyone grumbled. The sky was grey.
We had nothing to do and nothing to say.
We were nearing the end of a dismal day,
And there seemed to be nothing beyond,
THEN
Daddy fell into the pond!
And everyone’s face grew merry and bright,
And Timothy danced for sheer delight.
“Give me the camera, quick, oh quick!
He’s crawling out of the duckweed.”
Click!
Then the gardener suddenly slapped his knee,
And doubled up, shaking silently,
And the ducks all quacked as if they were daft
And it sounded as if the old drake laughed.
O, there wasn’t a thing that didn’t respond
WHEN
Daddy fell into the pond!
– Alfred Noyes
This poem will always remind me of you Dad, of that Christmas when you did fall into the pond and I asked for it to be read as part of my eulogy to you. There is a lifetime of memories to cherish, but I can’t quite believe it’s been 12 years since the last ones were made. I’ve been so busy that this year the pain has been a little easier to bear, but I’m never to busy to remember you with love and miss the time we should have been spending creating new memories. Tonight we’ll raise a quiet glass. Love you Dad xxx
Today’s a big day; a momentous day; a day for celebration, or should that be commiseration?!
Why? Well, someone has hit 40!
Happy birthday Mike!
So much has happened over the last 12 months that I can’t quite believe that we’re marking another year since we lost my Dad. 11 years gone. I love and miss you Dad xxx
Today’s a special day. It hasn’t quite turned out as planned, but then again, things quite often don’t in our household. Presents have been bought and wrapped and cards have been written, but the birthday boy wasn’t at home this morning to open them. I thought we might enjoy a family meal together at home tonight, but Mike has been away on business, so we’ll be lucky if we just about manage a strategically ordered takeaway before 9pm instead. I was even hoping to bake a cake, but work commitments have left me running around a little like a headless chicken this week and unless things improve drastically before that 9pm takeaway deadline, I really don’t think that will happen.
Mike & funny man, Dave Gorman – last year’s birthday pressie. Wonder what this year will bring?
So instead, let me take the “easy” way out and instead wish Mike an amazingly happy birthday! It might not have been the birthday celebrations we’d have chosen, but I hope your day is a good one and G, M and I can’t wait to see you tonight for a mini celebration before bedtime. We love you lots.
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