#miss you dad

[egyszertalan]

Szeretnék hinni abban, hogy Odafentről vigyázol rám..💫

[galaxies-inside-my-head]

every day i wish i died instead of you. people would be okay without me, but without you we are all broken.

[alrnoonecaresanymore]

It’s been 9 years Dad 😔…..

[logan-w]

Shout out to dad for being one of the best dad to ever dad

Also shout out to Merrick for being a somewhat surrogate sort of

[my-shields-are-down]

Bottle

REMINDER: I asked for one word prompts to trigger a fan fiction one shot. This one triggered a doozy.

==============

Seventeen year old Kai Bradford walks up to the podium and takes the microphone from his Aunt Angela and breathes deeply to calm himself. He is really nervous talking in front of all these people. But he knew this was excellent practice for his valedictorian speech in a few weeks.

He found and made eye-contact with his mom, who nodded, smiled and gave him two thumbs up and whispered - “you’ve got this.”

Tim turned to Lucy and asked, “Did you know about this? About what he’s going to say?”

Tim and Kai have not been on the best of terms lately. They seem to be having the same fight over and over about Kai’s future, his girlfriend, his clothes, the weather, you name it, they argue about it. So the fact his eldest son is now standing in front of his peers to speak is quite a bit unnerving and overwhelming for Tim.. Tim has no idea what his son will say. Lucy looks back at him and smiles. “I knew he wanted to speak - but no, honey, I don’t know what he’s going to say.” She leans into Tim and kisses him.

Tim grabs her hand and watches their son take a deep breath to calm his nerves.

Their first born - the boy who almost died when Lucy was shot.

Who spent hours on Tim’s bare chest as his lungs and heart grew strong; who listened to Tim talk about his mom and how much he loved her and needed both of them to live; Who said “dada” and walked way ahead of schedule; the kid who followed Tim everywhere and asked him a gazillion questions; the one who used to look at him with awe and wonder; the natural athlete who swims, and surfs, and catches anything thrown in his general direction, who brings his mom flowers just because they remind him of her; the one whose love of the ocean forced Tim to get over his aversion to it; the one who brought home creatures and plopped them on the dining room table with cheers of victory and squeals of “science!”; the one who is just like his mom, full of kindness, brilliance, humor and sunshine; who stands up for the little guy and treats everyone the same; the one who will wave and say hi to his mom on national tv when he catches the winning touchdown during a future bowl game despite the thousands of hours of drills run with his dad. The human he loves almost as much as Lucy. Tim loves this boy-almost-man more than life itself.

Kai turns to the audience and nods when he says, “Hi everyone. I’m Kai. Thank you for coming tonight to my parents’ 20th Anniversary Party. I’m here to speak for the kids - me, Diana and TJ. Besides being the oldest and most eloquent, everyone knows I’m the favorite - mom’s little sunshine miracle boy.”

He blushes and rolls his eyes - as the audience laughs and nods in agreement.

Because Kai was the first born, they had all seen videos and pictures and heard stories of everything he has ever done. The soccer games, the school plays, the boys playing in the dirt, the backyard camping adventures, the wonder and annoyance at his little siblings, the failed clarinet career, the gifted athlete, the wickedly smart and clever kid, etc.

Lucy has a large orange and green fire breathing dragon on her office wall - drawn by Kai in 7th grade art class. Tim had it framed for her office shortly thereafter.

Everyone at the party has watched him grow up and turn into the charming, smart and handsome young man before them.

At 17, he now is just an inch shorter than his dad, strong, athletic, with dark wavy hair, a golden honey complexion and stormy blue-gray eyes.

But there was a time when he lived in a NICU incubator for several months, weighing under 5 pounds, while his mom recovered from two bullet wounds and his dad tried not to sink into a pit of despair.

“I love my mom so much - she’s my best friend, my biggest cheerleader, my closest confidant, my favorite person.” Kai waves at Lucy who smiles and waves back.

“But my dad? My dad is my hero.”

And just like that - all noise in the ballroom stopped - you could hear a pin drop. Tim’s breath catches in his throat and a single tear falls down his face. Lucy smiles at Kai and squeezes Tim’s hand.

“What do I mean by that? Good question. Wikipedia defines a hero as a person who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength.”

That’s my dad. I know him as my stay-at-home protector, but I’ve heard stories from all of you, all of my life about the danger he faced day after day as a cop; how he came up with creative solutions to immediate problems - like the drilling of a hole in a car floorboard to spray pepper spray into a car to stop a carjacking or making a donut place the main lunch stop for cops so the gangs avoid it or digging through the dirt with his bare hands to dig up the barrel holding my mom as she died waiting for someone to find her.

None of my siblings or I would even be here, if my dad had given up on finding her. Well that and you know, them admitting they were crazy about each other and all the sex - no no no - Aunt Angela, I cannot say that - gross”… the audience including his parents start laughing loudly.

“Where was I? Oh right… My parents could not be more different - she’s sunshine and he’s grumpy. We kids know how to be exemplary humans because they showed us how.

My dad as a man is who I hope to be when I grow up. I measure myself against who he is in the world. He’s not perfect - just ask my mom about his “sock problem” - but he is my role model for how to treat people and how to exist in the world.

When I was 6 years old and getting ready for my first day of school, he sat me down on the bench by the door and tied my shoes and said the same thing to me he says every year - his yearly “Tim Talk” as mom calls it:

“You look your classmates in the eye, Kai. You speak to them with respect and honesty and kindness. I don’t care if they did you wrong, or if you are having a bad day. You always treat everyone you come in contact with as if they are special to you, as if it’s the best part of your day. You smile at your teachers, your classmates, the janitor. You laugh at bad jokes. You congratulate people on their accomplishments. You become friends with everyone and learn about them. What makes them excited and scared? What are their favorite things? Who are their favorite people? You be the one everyone smiles about when they remember. okay?”

All three of us live and die by this advice every day. We are all well liked by our classmates, teachers, coaches, parents neighbors and friends. Our parents - mom by telling and dad by showing - gave us the foundation upon which we stand and live.

My mom taught us how to love big, my dad taught us to love small.

My mom taught us to hold tight, my dad taught us to leave space.

My mom taught us to be confident, my dad taught us to be humble.

My mom taught us to grateful, my dad taught us to be of service.

My mom taught us to be loud, my dad taught us the value of silence

My mom gave us a love of nature, my dad gave us a love of sports.

My mom believes in second chances, my dad prefers to measure twice and cut once.

My mom taught us about forgiveness, my dad taught us about loyalty.

My mom taught us to be strong, my dad showed us how to be vulnerable.

Dad sends flowers to his ex-wife on her birthday every year. He loved her a long time before mom came along and while it wasn’t always pretty, he thanks her for loving him and letting him go.

He and Kojo and then later Jack and Diane (Di’s chinchillas) never missed a tea party with Diana and her real or imaginary friends.

Dad dances with mom in the kitchen when her favorite song comes on the radio.

He came to every recital and game, chaperoned every field trip and dance.

He knows all of our secrets and gives the very best advice. We don’t always follow it, mind you, but he gives it freely whenever we ask.

Most importantly, he showed us that he loves our mom. They’ve given us three kids infinite lessons on how to love and be in a loving relationship. We are so lucky and blessed to have these amazing creatures as our parents.

So everyone, please raise your glasses, bottles, and cans and let’s celebrate our parents - Lucy & Tim Bradford.

Thank you.

While everyone is cheering and clapping, Tim stands up and walks over to his son and grabs him in a big hug and and just holds onto him tightly while smiling the biggest smile and with tears streaming down his face. “I love you too Kai, I love you too.”

——— end ———

[jimstares]

Every US Memorial Day weekend dad and I would watch “The Longest Day”. He’d settle in with Seagram’s in his “Jim’s Private Bar” glass (pictured) and away we went. Dad’s been gone a long time, but I keep the tradition alive (though with slightly better hooch).

[safehere]

Anytime anything good happens I’m always like “thanks dad” bc I can feel him smiling down on me

[phdmama]

.

[egyszertalan]

Sosem fogok választ kapni arra, hogy miért mentél el ilyen korán, hogy miért pont te, miért pont most.

Sosem fogom megtudni, hogy valójában mi történt, hogy mit éreztél. Vajon te tudtad, hogy utoljára dobban a szíved?

[polvoestelarsblog]

36 meses

3 años sin ti se sienten otra vida, trato de recordarte con amor, pensando en los buenos momentos, donde fuimos felices, pero no te mentiré, la tristeza me suele sobrepasar, te quisiera contar tanto, quisiera darte un abrazo y reír contigo una vez más; eres el amor de mi vida y siempre lo serás, te extraño un tanto más con cada latido que tengo, vuela alto, mi amor, vuela alto, papi...

[galaxies-inside-my-head]

i’m a shell of the person i used to be. sometimes i look in the mirror and genuinely don’t recognise the girl looking back at me. who am i in this world without my dad holding my hand?

[sincerelysatanherself]

June 19th, 2024

Days before my 30th birthday. A couple weeks after five whole years without you. This year has been shit. My lows are getting bad and you’re not here to help me navigate them anymore. I’ve been so tired lately that I haven’t dreamt of you or really noticed a sign from you. Feeling lost and afraid, I asked to hear from you … and the loudest crack of thunder immediately after was the best “I am here”. And it roared for hours until I finally slept.

I don’t want to forget this. And I do recognize this may come off as incredibly strange and superstitious and crazy, but we all have our ways of coping and surviving grief.

[lsxgrs]

Dios, cada vez que hablas me empiezan los dolores de cabeza.

[flame-in-the-wind]

Abbiamo una scadenza anche nei miei sogni, ogni volta mi dici che devi andare via, che abbiamo poco tempo per stare insieme. Vorrei averne di più; per stare con te, abbracciarti di nuovo e sentire il rassicurante profumo di quel tuo dopobarba che adoravo così tanto.

La prossima volta, per favore, resta un po' di più.

[underthewingsofthblackeagle]

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Dads - unreplaceble.

[egyszertalan]

Hogy birkózhatnék meg az élet legkeményebb leckéjével?