Dad's Gifts

It was four years ago that my Dad died.

He waited around until I could get back from St. Martin, made sure I was alright with it, and went peacefully several days later.

Sarah and I are back in St. Martin on this anniversary of his departure.

It's funny because I'm increasingly mindful of the things Dad passed on to me. He loved the sea, the smell of the marsh, the shape of Palm Trees and the blaze of the sun. He was forever tanned and forever working on it. He loved to catch crabs and pick them for others. He loved sea food.

He had a serious case of "Wanderlust" and would pick up and go whenever the opportunity presented itself. He and the boys were forever taking off for the Bahamas or Fernadina Beach. He and Mom traveled the Caribbean and Europe.

I was in my office once when he called me on the phone.

"Hey Bub, you want to go to the Bahamas?"

"Yeah Dad! When?"

"Now. Meet us at the airport in an hour," and he hung up.

Somehow I made the plane and spent a week with my Dad and his cronies in Marsh Harbor. It was my first trip to the islands and I am forever indebted to him making that introduction.

He passed the Wanderlust on to me.

Dad loved to laugh and to make others laugh. Forever telling jokes or playing them on someone, he lived to laugh. There's enough bad things in life to drag you down and Dad's solution was to surround himself with people who would laugh. My life is filled with the same kinds of folks.

He loved to cook and was damn good at it. His friends invited him on trips just so he would do the cooking. He especially loved to grill and again he passed these loves on to me. Dad and I have passed them on to Jeremy.

These things keep Dad very much alive to me though it's hard for me to believe that four years have already passed. I don't dwell on the sadness or the loss. I just focus on the things he left behind.

Or as Dad would say, "It's all good."