This is the first Father's Day
that my Dad has not been with me
and when I have not been with my Dad...
this is the first Father's Day
that I will be unable to hold my Dad's hand
and give him a well-deserved hug...
this is the first Father's Day
that I won't get to look into
my Dad’s blue eyes and see
shining from them a light
of enduring love...
this is the first Father's Day
that I will be unable to see my Dad's smile
and celebrate how amazing a father
he has always been -
and that makes me extremely sad.

Every day, more than anything,
I wish that my Dad was still with us...
this Father's Day, I feel gratitude
as well as pain -
because I know how lucky I was
that my Dad was my Dad,
but he has passed on
to the world beyond
and because he is no longer
where he always was -
by my side -
there are times when I
look around at the world
and I feel deeply lost.

My father will always be
a force of nature to me - 
someone who all my life
has influenced my thoughts and actions,
and who will never stop inspiring me...
my Dad continues to speak to me
through my dreams,
through his teachings,
through what he gifted me,
through the numerous talismans
that he left behind that will
forever tie him to me...
this Father's Day,
I feel as if I am walking in the dark -
but with an ever-glowing light
that all my life has tied me to what
has always been constant and true...
this Father's Day, as well as every day,
I feel, more than words could ever say,
that I can hear the voice of my Dad
within me, guiding me;
and to my Dad, on Father's Day,
I want to say that I love you,
I miss you, and that life will never again
be the same without you.