Thanks Dad

By Carl WrightJuly 19, 2014 ( 7 )

Today’s been one of those “milestone days” for myself. It has been a time of reminiscing, a sort of sadness mixed with gratefulness. You see it was 40 years ago today that a massive heart attack claimed the life of my father. He was 47, and I was a tender 15 years old. I have probably remembered that final day, those final moments, my final words several times over the years.

It was November 17, 1973 around 8:00 a.m. and my dad had just finished adjusting the straps on my hockey goalie pads. After asking me to try them on, I answered, “They fit great, thanks Dad”. There was nothing dramatic, nothing profound in those words, but little would I would know these were the last words spoken to him. As a farmer, a couple of minutes later he was out the door to plow a field, and I would never see him alive again.

Yeah, I miss my dad, and not many day go by that I don’t think of him, but I am SO grateful for those 15 years I did have. Some friends I know have never known what it is like to have a “good” father.

Life is SO short. It seems the older one gets, the faster each year goes by. Embrace life, and make the best of each day, living it as if it were your last. And please make our words count. They don’t have to be profound or dramatic, but if they were our last….there would be no regrets.

Thanks Dad….

Your son, Carl.