19 days ago my dear dad passed on from this life. He was a ‘best friend’ to several people, and to me he was a big hug at the airport, a mischievous and fun grandpa to my son, and words of encouragement and softness at the most surprising times. That encouragement, perhaps most unexpected for me, came largely in the form of support for this humble blog. To my enormous surprise, he loved reading it and would almost always email me after a post to tell me what he thought (often saying something along the lines of “I loved reading it – but be careful!”). I’ve always been self conscious about writing publicly, but if my tough guy dad thought it was alright, my efforts were validated. His support, generosity and love made his obituary and eulogy sadly easy to write.

And so, this blog is for you, Daddio. I should have said it sooner, but it’s always been for you.