This year has undoubtedly been one of the most significant in my life. I met so many, experienced so much, and took from it all I could. It has been a defining one for a lot of people. Rather unfortunately, while I happened to gain, others were losing. I know too many friends that faced the loss of a parent this year. Each one makes me so profoundly sad. I cannot imagine a much greater loss in one’s life and while it may be inevitable, at this stage it still seems so untimely and that much more tragic. I lost my father when I was in college. It’s been over eleven years now and it shocks me to realize that number. He and I were close and with him went my greatest guide through life and my most loyal friend. And yet, in all of the time that’s past, the significance of that loss still hasn’t fully occurred to me. A small bit is realized with each passing milestone and notable event . The gap it has left in my life and in my heart will never be filled. What I have come to do is to maintain that space and even cherish it. This is the place in which I safely keep my fondest memories, my greatest hopes, and my favorite dreams. Now I appreciate my family like I never have before. I live each day to make them proud and to share their love. I’m certain they know this, but it still bears repeating. And while I can’t say anything to those that lost to change a thing at all, I'd like to tell them this: I think of you more than you realize, because you remind me, not just of the things I’ve lost, but of all that I still have.
