Lingering Emotions

Today is one of those days where I wake up, look at the calendar, and wish I could sleep through until tomorrow.

It is Dad’s birthday today. He’s been gone almost eleven years, but there are certain dates–today, October 16th (the day he passed), and Father’s Day–that still get to me.

The hardest part of losing Dad wasn’t so much the not seeing him part, or the hole he left in our lives. It was watching my sister fill that hole with negativity, self-abuse, and drugs. It was growing up and learni...