my dad's jacket

sometimes i wear my dad's old jacket. the one he used to wear all the time.

like ALMOST EVERYDAY all the time.

it's one of those jackets that long ago went out of style but seems to make a little comeback every now and then. but despite it being old-fashioned and slightly out of date, i still wear it. i admit it's  mostly just around the house, but i wear it.

because it reminds me of him.

 it was one of the only pieces of clothing i kept when he died.

that and an old pair of his socks.

everything else went to the nursing home. my dad would have wanted it that way. somehow the most giving man i ever knew was able to continue giving even after he died. 

but i had to keep something. i don't know why.

i guess i thought if i didn't give everything away that i'd still have a piece of him. i guess i thought if i kept his favorite jacket then he wouldn't really be gone.

crazy, i know. but somehow it's true.

on days when i feel alone, or tired, or overwhelmed...i put on his jacket.

on days when i miss him, or i need his advice, or i can't believe he's gone...i put it on and wrap it even tighter.

somehow this jacket puts my dad in the room. somehow this jacket puts my dad in the world.

same with the socks. they're threadbare now but it doesn't matter. just the sight of them brings back a million memories.

and just wearing them brings peace.

and that's what my dad meant to me in this world.

safety.

and love.

and peace.

it may be old. it may be out of date. it may even be out of style. but it was my dad's jacket.

so if you see me wearing it, tread softly.

because i'm not ready to let go of either of them just yet.

and i'm not sure that i ever will be.

i miss my dad

i miss my dad.

though he's been gone for almost ten years, i still miss him.

though i haven't heard his voice in almost a decade, i still hear him. though i haven't seen him in forever, i still see him.

i see him in the older man shuffling up the aisle at church. bent over a bit, holding on to each pew for support. i see him, body sick with cancer, still going to church. still encouraging others. still holding on.

i hear him in my own voice, talking to my children. instilling his values and wisdom to the next generation. "don't forget your friends", i hear him saying, "don't forget your family". "tell the truth and the truth will set you free." 

advice i heard a hundred times. 

advice i still hear. 

advice i still believe to this day.

i find him in the sunday paper. the one with the big crossword puzzle. the one with the hard words and the intimidating clues. i see him, cigar in the corner of his mouth, pen in hand, enjoying his simple pleasure in life.

i wonder if that's normal. that no matter the passing of time, we can still hear. still see. still honestly love someone who has left this world. 

that something so simple can remind us. can catch us off guard. can take us back to a moment in time that makes us believe they are still here. still watching. still loving us through the absence.

i wonder if  i'm the only person who can't let go. if i'm the only person who doesn't want to move on. if i'm the only person who wishes they could go back, just for one day, and do it all again.

i'm sure i'm not. i'm sure there are others who want a second chance. who still have things left to say. who still want a little more time.

regrets, wishes, should have dones...all lined up in a corner, wondering why i let the time pass. wondering how i so easily forgot that life is short and time is precious and people will die.

wondering how i let the last years, the last days, the last moments slip so easily between my fingers.

i thought i had more time. i thought i had more moments. i thought i could make more memories.

but there were no more memories to be made and so i'm left with just the ones i have. 

but even they fade with time. even they sometimes pause at the remembering.

and that scares me. 

that the memories will become so old, so fuzzy, that one day i won't have them anymore. 

that the most important person in my life will be forgotten. 

that i will have forgotten my dad.

and maybe that's why i look for him. maybe that's why i see him. maybe that's why i hear him.

because my mind still remembers.

and my heart refuses to forget.

the most important influence i had in life, the most important example i had for living...

is gone...

and i still miss him.