A National Holiday

Peace and love to you all.

I hope you are all having a nice start to the year! It's hard to believe we're already in 2023. 

January 14th, though, is a special day for our family. It is and was my Dad's birthday. Every year, he would be so excited for it. He would talk about it being a national holiday and take joy in a day celebrating him and his birth. Even in the last years, he still found happiness and good days in his birthday. Having the day without him feels wrong, somehow. It always will, I imagine.

But we did the best we could to honor him. We went to Hu-Hot for lunch and I made sure to get the Shoyu Pepper sauce on my food, even though it's like tasting a peppery version of hot coals. We ate and talked about him and enjoyed being at his favorite restaurant. 

What we didn't do, though, was turn today into some morose, sulking day. Was it tough? Yes. I don't think any of us feel particularly good right now for all sorts of reasons, not the least of which was remembering that he's not here anymore. But we were determined to celebrate and then live the day and live our lives. As much as we miss him, and we do, we cannot put our lives on hold indefinitely while mourning. We can't and he wouldn't want us to. 

So, happy birthday, Dad. I know you're celebrating up there, even as we hurt a bit down here. We love you and we miss you.

​Thanks be to God.