Tribute to my father

I miss my Dad a lot. I keep thinking about him lately, about how nice it would have been to talk to him about my future plans, and get some good advice. He never felt shy about dispensing advice. :) It's so unfair that his life got cut so short. He had so much ahead of him, so much to live for, and instead, he got cancer and slowly faded away.

I don't want to regret my choices in life when I'm 40. Mom said she always wondered what good could come out of this situation, since of course we need to believe there was something good about it. I think the good that happened in my life because of it is that I made a huge effort to be close to my family again. Family is SO important. The second thing is that I know, at a gut deep level, how important every day is and how important it is to make this one, short, dazzling life we're given count for as much as possible. Who knows when it will end? We could live to 80, we could get hit by a car tomorrow, we could get terminal cancer just when we're planing our 25th anniversary trip to the Mediterranean with our spouse.

I'm so grateful that in addition to being the strong role model and responsible, loving father he was, he also showed us all, his family, friends and colleagues, how to greet the end of life with dignity and grace and not despair and anger. I just wish he hadn't had to die to show me how to live.