Day 10: In Remembrance...

December 29th was a rough one. Its my Father's birthday. Unfortunately, he passed away back in 2002 and his birthday is always tough for the family. I spent a lot of time thinking of him and all the advice he gave me. He told me tons of things that I reflect on daily: "Take care of your teeth, they're the only ones you have", "If you can afford it, get it, cause you can't take money with you when you go", ya' know, all those basic things.

He was where I got my love of reading from. He always had a paperback with him. In fact, the first few adult books I read: It by Stephen King, The Rainmaker by John Grisham, and Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, had been from his keeper shelf.

He and Mom instilled in me my love of the Celtics, and old movies (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre was his favorite movie, he once told me, and he once sat me down and forced me to watch The Great Escape).

But out of all the advice he gave me, the Big Idea that always seem to permeate his words and the thing that he never let me forget was that I could do anything I wanted to. Anything I dreamed, I could do it. He believed in me.

So, I'm only around a week into this journey but I know for certain that he is exceedingly proud of me and rooting for me up there. He knows this has always been a dream of mine. I've done my time building a home life for me and mine: I got married, we had two kids, and we worked our butts off to buy our own home. And I'm sure he agrees with me that now is the right time.

I have a great memory of Daddy (its one of the reasons Harry Potter is part of my soul): He, Mom, and I went to see the first Harry Potter movie. I'd talked him into reading the books and I just knew he was excited about it even if he didn't show it much. I sat between Mom and Dad. Mom predictably fell asleep, she's a sucker for a nap. Dumbledore delivered what is now my favorite quote of all the books:

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

Daddy turned to me and said simply, "Remember that, Leah." At first I thought he was getting on to me for being so flighty and obsessed with fantasy, but now I know he only wanted me to buckle down and do great things one day. The great things he always knew I would do. 

A year later he was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer and he was gone within 8 months (2 months longer than the doctors originally gave him, he was a stubborn guy). I think about him daily, of course. I think about him especially while I'm writing. 

I guess this whole thing boils down to the fact that yesterday might have been rough but I ended the day with a new sense of determination. I remember how much Daddy believed in me, and you all know how supporting my Mom has been. I know I can do this and I can't freakin' wait to write that dedication!!!!!

Okay onto a lighter subject because I've had enough blubbering in the last 24 hours to last me a good long while.

I came upon some AWESOMESAUCE yesterday! The YA Rebels rock, people! I'm only finishing up week 2 of their videos and I already love everyone of these gals and guy! I'm about to demolish my bandwidth today. Their videos are helping me to develop my story, giving me much to think about in relation to my characters. Check them out!

The YA Rebels' Youtube Channel

YA Rebels on Twitter

Go on, click on the links... Thaaaat's right... Move your mouse right on top... Too far... Back just a little... There! Go, go, go!!! YAR!