My father passed away on a Monday. It was 11:05 am when I looked at my watch after noticing he was no longer breathing. For the first time in my life, I realized, my father was gone!

It’s not lost on me how lucky I am to have known this incredible man! How lucky to have been raised and heavily influenced by him. His other children were not so lucky. I grew up never having a doubt about how much my father loved me. I’m not even sure the words were ever spoken.

My friend Doug reached out to me and said he remembered passing the mile marker of losing a parent.

“A feeling of being orphaned at 43 (my Mom) and again at 56 (my Dad)…words approach the experience, but never hit the mark.”

Watch the video above, because right now, it’s the best that I can express. At the end, I’ll add a short slide show of my father’s last month…

Beginning with his birthday.