Tell someone you love them!

This is my dad and me. He died on April 23, 2002. I don't remember when this picture was taken other than it was in my parents' dining room in Louisiana and I was there during a flood. It's not the best picture ever taken of the two of us but I think it truly reflects how we felt about each other...we loved each other!

Why am I posting this now? I've never posted anything about losing my dad before but I watched the stupid Grey's Anatomy finale last night...and yes, I broke down at the end, even though I had an inkling of what was coming. If you didn't see it, I won't spoil it but the whole point of the episode is "don't wait...tell the people you love TODAY...tell them how much you love them...tell them what a difference they've made in your life."


I know, I know...we all say that don't we? When something happens...we all say that it won't happen again....

I don't need to talk about the pain of losing my dad...everyone has lost someone...everyone has felt grief in some form or another. What I want to say is that I did tell him...from the time he was diagnosed with cancer until the night he died....I told him how much I loved him...how special he was to me...what a difference he made in my life. I told him over and over again as we hugged and cried and laughed and cried.....there was lots of crying. Angry crying when he was diagnosed, happy crying when his treatment was going well and horrible wrenching crying when he died unexpectedly from surgery complications. I can say now that I have no regrets...

I know that he died knowing how much he was loved...there was no doubt he knew how much we loved him...because we couldn't stop saying it. Over and over and over again...because we were scared...and we wanted him to know ....

...don't wait...don't wait for a diagnosis or a death...say it today. Tell someone right now how much you love them....a spouse, a child, a niece or nephew, a friend...don't let another day go by because you never know ....