Half a Year Without You, Daddy

It’s so hard to believe it’s been six months since we lost my Daddy. I’d been thinking about and dreading this milestone all week. It still feels like it can’t be real some days and there are so many little things that hit me hard when something triggers a memory of him.

But Momma and I both got calls from Hospice of Frederick. They knew it had been six months and wanted to let us know they were thinking about us. They also wanted to make sure we had the support we needed to help us through our grief and offered a counselor.

I was honestly surprised by the call, but very touched. Especially since Daddy was actually only under Hospice care for one day. But I’m extremely thankful for the support they were for both me, Momma, and Daddy on his last day on earth. He wasn’t aware of their presence, but Momma and I certainly were.

Momma and I still talk or text every day and I know it’s been a hard spring for her. Lots of memories and missing things she and Daddy used to do together when the weather got warmer. Little things you really don’t think about much until half of your daily life experience is now gone.

And she still gets teary at church sometimes, even just this past week. Seeing the place where Daddy used to sit in the choir loft, the pew where they sat together for services, and the empty chair in his old office.

I’m missing so much about my Daddy too, and have so many memories flooding my mind. But her everyday life is changed forever and she’s still trying to learn how to navigate it without him. It breaks my heart for her, more than she knows.

Me and especially Momma need prayer and good thoughts during the next six months. There are still special dates and times we have to learn to experience now without Daddy, before the first anniversary of his death in December. And I am realizing so much more that what I’ve always heard is true — the first year really is the hardest.

I still love and miss my Daddy so terribly, but I’m also still thankful that his lifetime of pain and suffering is over. I still feel his presence in my heart, see his loving smile, and remember what his hugs feel like when I really need one.

I also still wonder what the Lord might have him tinkering on now and that makes me smile. That would truly be Daddy heaven. 🥰

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