Nine Father's Days Later...

I remember Father's Day 2007, the last Father's Day I got to spend with you. A quiet day, low-key... lunch at Longhorn's, a couple of hours of conversation at your house, a quick trip to Walmart so that you could pick up a few things. Picked up those tan corduroy kitchen chair cushions that you had been looking at for a couple of weeks. As soon as we got back to your house, you took up the old cushions and put the new ones on, and your smile told us that you liked them.You'd be happy to see that we still have them, along with your kitchen table. (I think of that day every time I see them.)

Most of the conversation was topical but uneventful, but I remember talking with you about Comic Shop News, which had just turned twenty years old a couple of weeks earlier. You told me how proud of me you were, and how happy you were that I had chosen to go into writing as well. Those words meant more to me than you'll ever know.

Miss you every day, Dad. Maybe a little more some days--birthdays... Christmas... and Father's Day. But still so thankful for the days that we had together, even though they ended far too soon.