Day 30: picture of someone I miss

My Daddy in Banff

This is my Daddy. The photo was taken probably 6 years before he died. He Loved to go places. He would winter in Arizona & summer in our back yard. Until his health got too bad for him to go. The last few years of his life he held on to his independence with a death grip. He never let go up until his last day. I miss him so very much. It will be 3 years this June and I still find myself picking up the phone to tell him something that happened, or when I am driving by the trailer court he used to live, I will turn in and remember...He's not there. The  "Daddy's Little Girl" will always be a part of who I am, no matter how old I get. He was the one person on the planet besides Sid that thought I was "ALL THAT!!"  I will always be grateful to have been blessed with a Loving Daddy. I didn't always appreciate him. Those awful teen-age years when I thought he was the meanest person on the planet. I told him so, too. He proceeded to "stay out" of my life for 2 weeks straight. I tried to talk to him or tell him something, and he would just get up without saying anything and walk away. I never realized until years later how that nearly killed him. He taught me a powerful lesson. He showed me that it was ALL OR NOTHING. I of course wanted it ALL. Years later I truly appreciated his strict ways. I hate to think how I may have turned out left without that stable,unwavering,upbringing. So, I can truthfully say we had nothing left unsaid or undone. I have been blessed beyond measure. He was an ornery,opinionated,hard to know guy. but once you got past all that, there was a huge heart willing to do anything to help someone else. He was always there for me, no matter what. I will miss him as long as I live, but I am comforted greatly knowing he is with Jesus, and I will see him again. Hope is a wonderful thing.