05/09/2023
When I woke up and looked at the date this morning, it caught me off-guard.
Usually I can feel it coming for weeks, but I was so wrapped up in planning for Red Rocks that I forgot.
It’s been 8 years since I lost my dad to Parkinson’s. And the grief does dull a little, but man, I wish I could remember the sound of his voice. I wish he could meet Mynor and see our house. I wish I could take him climbing. My life is the best it’s ever been, and he doesn’t get to be here for it.
And I’m sad, but I also know he’d be freaking stoked to know he raised a little hippie rockhugger. He was a teacher, an athlete, an outdoorsman, an animal lover, an obsessive overplanner…and I think I get a little bit more like him every year.
So cheers, Papa Bear, and I hope you’re in another galaxy somewhere catching waves.