We lost my Dad on Monday.

Yesterday afternoon we started the process of going through his things. Found a manila packet, opened it, and hit my knees sobbing.

It was his collection of short stories and poetry he’d written back in 1994. I’d been looking for it for months now, and had been really upset that I hadn’t been able to find it. I thought they were lost forever. Now, I have them.

I plan to publish the wonderful things he wrote as a tribute to him. I could care less if it sells, or not. I just want to celebrate my Dad, and I think he’d get a kick out of his words being preserved that way. He was one of my biggest cheerleaders regarding my writing. Now I get to return that support.

Being able to do this, something I’d never even realized was possible until recently, helps the hole in my heart ache a little bit less.