On this Father’s Day I am of course missing my Dad, Jack who passed away last summer. It is our first Father’s Day without him and good memories of our time together bubble quickly to the surface. That time he taught me how to drive a tractor…I sat on his lap and spent my whole time turning the giant steering wheel while he patiently brought us back to the middle of the laneway, reminding me to look ahead and not at my hands. The time when I was desperate for a skateboard and so Dad took apart my sister Jen’s doll buggy (sorry Jen!) and fashioned a skateboard from a strip of barn board and doll buggy wheels. It didn’t move very far but I adored it! And then there was that time when I was in university and he thoughtfully ordered 500 “Pat Henderson” pens from Reader’s Digest. They lasted me until the end of fourth year…and beyond! This past week I thought of him often as I drove the long highways around BC’s beautiful Kootenay region. Often I had one of my favourite Alberta band’s songs in my head as I drove: Emerson Drive’s A Good Man. It was the soundtrack for my long week on the road.

My Dad was a very good man! It was just this time last year that I made this trip for the first time and pretty much cried my way across Highway 3, The Crowsnest Trail, having just left my Dad back home as he moved to the hospice for his last month with us. I missed him so and felt so very badly for leaving when I should have been staying (the story of my life really). This week I recognized all the places along the highway where I found good cell reception and phoned Dad to see how he was keeping. When I pulled into Cranbrook this week I felt an especially strong pang of homesickness as I recalled a FaceTime call arranged by Jen with Mum and Dad in Dad’s room while I parked at the local Dairy Queen. These memories, though tinged with loss, are also cherished moments that I will keep close to my heart.

I took the photo above of a stormy sky over Osoyoos one night this week when I felt Dad’s loss most keenly. I went for a long walk along the lake and sure enough, shortly after taking this photo, the sun appeared bright against the sweeping storm cloud, creating the most spectacular rainbow shining down on me as I walked, reminding me that sunshine follows rain. And that Dad is not that very far away. He is as close as my heart.

On this Father’s Day, I wish all Dad’s the very best. Thank you for keeping us safe. For cheering us on. For loving us unconditionally, and forever.