Dec 20, 1954 - Dec 20, 2012

I don't know if my step-dad and I were especially close, though we had gotten closer over the years. We didn't chat on the phone. But that's not fair measure of closeness as I am not much of a phone person. We did talk a fair bit about this and that when I'd come visit. We got on well. But "close" is a strong word and I don't know if we were that. I think it would be safe to say we were friends, though. And despite our differences and some of the things he did, said, or thought that I may not have agreed with, I believe he was a good man.

Whatever we may have been, his passing has hit me harder than I would have expected. He always seemed like such an irrefutable and steady part of life. Something that could weather any storm, something that, if you looked for it, was always there, like a mountain. I didn't realize it until he died, but I sort of expected him to outlast everyone, and it's a shock to me that the last happy birthday I wished him was on the very day he left us all behind as he lay diminished, but peaceful, in his hospital bed.