It's Dad Day

It's Dad Day today.

I've decided to celebrate my Dad every May 8th, instead of waiting until Father's Day because of two things:

One, today is the day that one year ago, my father passed away

and

Two, he is such a cool guy, that I think 2 days should be used to talk about how neat my Dad is.

Who else could ever play Santa Claus?! My Dad was the best. Even after his original suit got stolen (! I know, WHO steals a hand-made completely velvet and fur Family Heirloom Suit?! The Karma is staggering),

He still played Santa for years! 

This picture has something my Dad loved to do: cook meat on a grill to perfection. You can see the grill in the background. He was also a big fan of smoking. Meat, that is. 

In addition to being a grill-master, my dad was also incredibly adept in the kitchen. He was tremendous with pastries. Here he is with James when James was only one. I love how intensely focused they both are.

This beauty shot was taken by my parent's good friend in Canada. It is my favorite Simpson Family picture of ALL TIME.

My dad always loved a good running joke. Captain Morgan.

It was rare to see my Dad without his trusty RayBan Wayfarers. In fact, they became a bit of a trademark.

I made this Quilt for my Dad. It was his family quilt that he could use in Dialysis so he could keep warm, and keep us all with him. He did not actually use it for that. Which, in all honesty, I'm a little bit perturbed about. But I'm sure he had his reasons- NONE of which ought to be that there was burnt-orange in the fabric. I tried to stick with as much Maroon and White as I could.

Mom took this photo, but it has all Simpson Children in it (Jacob is on a Mission, so he has to make do with being in a frame).

I love this photo.

Lest I forget, my dad loved to play in the dirt and get dirty. Even more, he loved getting everyone ELSE dirty too. Especially if he got to use cool tools to do that. Exhibit A: tiny diggers at the SLC Zoo. Yup. Sand Fight. 

More Zoo.

Dad was great at taking photos. He was always ready with a smile and (rarely) complained. At least, I never heard it.

It's been exactly one year. I don't feel like he's 'GONE' in capital letters. I still feel like he's just 'right there', like, I could call him from the next room and he'd bellow, "What do you want?". Occasionally I feel sad- sad that I can't just talk to him on the phone, ask for advice, hear the latest (bad) joke, or him gloating about what he's eating for dinner. That part is awful.

But.

I still have photos, memories, e-mails, handwritten notes. And that's good.

alright, now I'm crying.

I miss my Dad.

But I know it's not for forever.