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The Biggest Regret of My Life
When I was a younger, I was a daddy’s girl. He was a goofball in the best sense of the word – always making up funny nicknames for me, quick with a smile or laugh, and always there to kiss away my tears.
One of my best memories was of him helping a complete stranger when I was about 7 years old. He had just picked me up from school and we were on the way home. Not too far from our house, we saw a car broken down on the side of the road with a young woman sitting alone in the car, crying. This was back in the early 1980s – cell phones were a thing of the far future and we lived out in the boonies. Dad couldn’t bear the thought of this poor lady being stranded and immediately made a u-turn to go help her. Knowing a thing or two about cars, he was able to get her car running and get her back on her way.
Daddy worked at the post office and normally his schedule was a late shift. He would go into work while I was in school and come home long after I’d be in bed. To help “keep in touch” with me, he would often write me little notes saying he loved me or he would make me a little activity book by cutting out puzzles from a magazine and stapling them all together.
The summer I was 11 I lost my father to a heart attack. I was devastated. Suddenly my rock was gone. There were so many things left unsaid, so many things I never thought to ask him. My only excuse was that I was a kid. I didn’t care about my dad’s time in the Army before I was born, or about other such “mundane things”. I’d have plenty of time to discuss those things with him when I was older. If only I’d known that I wouldn’t have that time.
Now I try my best not to take any day, any moment, with my loved ones for granted. I try to make sure my husband knows he is the most important thing in my universe. I tell my friends I love them. I don’t want to look back on any other important relationships and think to myself, “I wish I had said…”
Great job! You put yourself out there and shared something very personal! and in case I dont say it enough I love you and Jason! You know,... in an evil way >:-)
ReplyDeleteThank you! What's "funny" is, this isn't how my piece started. Our instructions were we could write a short story or an essay, it had to be around 400 words, and it was on someone who made a difference in our life . I was going to do a short story on a completely different person/topic. I had written out some notes on that other topic, but when I sat down to actually start typing this is what came out.
DeleteI love you and Chad too. And, of course, in an evil way. What other way is there?? :)