So blessed

I have been dreading today for months. Every time I would think about it, I’d get that empty feeling in my stomach… the kind you get when you’re on your way down a rollercoaster ride. It’s not that today is necessarily sad, it’s just one of those days where I know I will be thinking about my dad from the time I wake up until I go to sleep.

But before I even woke up this morning, I had encouraging text messages waiting for me. All morning long my phone went off with texts full of memories of my dad, reminders of how amazing he was and reassurance that I was being prayed for all day long. I had flowers delivered from my mom and my favorite cookie left at my desk from my awesome fellow reporter, Brena.

What I fully anticipated to be a very hard today has been just the opposite and I am in awe of how lucky I am to have such incredible friends and family. My dad left such an unbelievable legacy, people couldn’t wait to share their memories and respect for him.

As I read through each text message and Facebook comment, I was overwhelmed with the impact my dad had… on my life and so many others. I know everyone says this, but my dad really was the best. I can’t think of anyone that would have anything negative to say about him. He was so funny, generous, devoted, sincere, funny, caring and did I mention funny?

He has instilled in me the importance of family time, forgiveness, faith and friends. Despite owning his own company, my dad rarely missed any of my practices or games and even found time to somehow coach most of my teams. He was the definition of humility and was never afraid to point out his own faults.

As I remembered my dad today, I wasn’t bombarded by the feeling of loss. Today I felt more loved, blessed and thankful for the time I had with my dad. Although he set the bar high, he is my motivation to work as hard as I can to make him proud every day. I love my dad and miss my best friend more each day, but I know he is smiling at how much I am taken care of on days like this.