Thank you for starting this thread. Father's Day is very hard for me. My father died in April, 10 years ago. One of the memories I have of him, which has always been emotional for me (for reasons I don't understand) is of sitting on an old railroad bridge, where my father took the entire family, to watch the fireworks on the Fourth of July. It's like I'm bombarded with emotion from April through July.

He was not a perfect man, or father, but he was a family man at heart (that is my feeling). He was also an alcoholic and the rest of my family only thinks of him in those terms. He's remembered by the others as some sort of monster. I remember all the good things about him, though I don't use them to deny the bad things. They, on the other hand, remember the bad to the point of denying the good.

I miss you daddy. I miss all the wonderful and good things about you. I even miss the long nights of dancing to all your records after you'd been out drinking half the night. I'm sorry that I cannot forget or forgive mother's lies and abuse, but you and I both were more deserving. Rest in peace daddy for I will always remember the truth.