3 years ago today I had a fabulous daddy-daughter day (we were dorks and really called them that) with my dad, little did I know that a week later he would be taken from me.
I was living in North Texas at the time, 5 months into my first job out of grad school and I was going through a rocky patch. My dad lived 2.5 hours away and wanted to come up for the day to cheer me up. Plus my dad was having gastric bypass surgery that Thursday and I really wanted to see him before then.
Part of the reason I moved to Texas was to be closer to my dad. My parents got divorced my freshmen year of high school and he stayed local, but once I went to college we never lived in the same state. I was in Connecticut and he was in New York or Florida or Texas.
I saw my dad so much in those 5 months we both lived in Texas it was wonderful, some of our best times. I had a lot of ups and downs with my dad, but our last few months were so much fun. He was the funniest person I ever knew. I am just like him in so many ways and I miss him constantly.
That last time we hung out I drove up to Oklahoma so we could go to the casino and play some slot machines. Well on the 20 mile drive to Oklahoma I get pulled over on a Sunday afternoon for doing 77 in a 70. I honestly wasn’t aware of my speed because it was an open road and because my dad and I were singing along to the Aida soundtrack on the top of our lungs. I was so upset about the ticket, but my dad comforted me and made me feel better, he always did. After the casino we came back to my apartment, rearranged furniture, and just hung out. I didn’t want him to leave.
I had a sinking feeling about everything. That was the day he told me he was getting gastric bypass over a lapband. I wasn’t a fan of his decision to have either surgery, particularly not gastric bypass. He was 6’2 and 300-325 pounds MAYBE. He has lost 100 pounds through diet and exercise when I was in highschool and he kept it off for 8 years before quickly gaining it back after he retired. I was disappointed that he was resorting to surgery as a quick fix, a quick fix he didn’t need because he BARELY qualified for the surgery because he wasn’t “that” obese. He had been talking about lap band for 6 months and talked to many doctors, went to consults etc. Then within a week of his surgery his doctor (if you can call him that) talks him into gastric bypass.
I’m already sitting at my desk crying so I’ll wait a bit to write more.
I love you all, life is so short.
Take control of your life now, not only for yourselves, but for your (future) kids too.
