Special Days

What makes a day special? The date, the memory attached to the date? And when one of the parties that shared that special day is gone... what does the date mean then? Is there a point in life that you should move past that date? Just things that I was thinking about when my calendar reminder popped up to remind me of my Grandma & Grandpa's and my Mom & Dad's anniversaries on April 16th. When do you stop say "it would have been their 31st, 58th anniversary"? When do you stop counting, do you? Do you move past that date? The last two months when the 7th rolled around was the first two months since my dad's death that I didn't count the months since he was gone… it was just another day. Does that mean I'm at this point where I'm "moving on"? How do you move on from your father? Some might say that I am merely moving on from his death and in part that's true, but why in moving on from his death does that mean I also think of him less? I was thinking about him a lot last night in the solitude of my home… thinking that it was the time of night that we would chat about our days. I would have told him about the silly movie I had just gone and seen, and how he would have loved it. I guess I had that conversation anyway… but it's just not the same. I am getting over the shock of his death, but certainly still not over the fact of it.

So, I don't know when the appropriate time to move on from dates and special occasions when all parties aren't there to celebrate and still make it what it is… but on Monday, April 16th it would have been my parents 31st wedding anniversary and it would have been my grandparents 58th wedding anniversary – and they've been gone for the last two of those anniversaries, but only physically. Happy Anniversary, everyone.