From One Year to the Next

Going through my 2012 calendar to update birthdays and such in my 2013 planner. While in the process, I found March 28th circled in blue pen with a chicken-scratch note: "See Dad w/Dan." Dan is my brother, and that is the day I started talking to my dad again after a year of silence on my part. 14 days later, he died. I firmly believe that we must do everything we need to do to keep our self respect and sanity. But, when it comes down to it, don't let pride and stubbornness keep you from growing as a human being. I'm glad I did what I did for myself, but I am also glad I did what I did for my dad. He wasn't much of a father, by any means. In fact, he was a total asshole most of the time, but he suffered from PTSD as a result of all of the scouting trips he was head of in Vietnam. Not an excuse, but no one deserves to die as lonely as he did. No one. Sorry. Just had to get that off my chest.