Remembering Dad

So here's the short of it,

Today marked the first Valentine's Day without Dad.

And here's the long

Today Mom and I went to the cemetery.  They only allow artificial flowers between January and April so Mom had gotten some nice artificial roses and had bought one of the "approved" holders.

Dad's favorite flower for giving on any occasion that called for flowers was red roses. I don't know what caused him to love them so much.  If it was Mom's birthday, Valentine's Day, their wedding anniversary, or Mother's Day, you could be sure that Emily would have a bouquet of red roses.  And from the time I moved to Chattanooga, I could always count on a red rose arrangement at Valentine's Day and for birthdays.

So today I went with Mom to take red roses.  It's such a hard passage - each first is so difficult. Tonight Kentucky played Tennessee in basketball.  Alan said it made him miss Dad because they would always have a conversation the day after a game. I bought a Kentucky windsock before Dad's surgery - my intention was to give it to him at the beginning of basketball season this year.

I am so fortunate that I had a Dad like Gene Howard.  I often think to myself, what would Dad have to say about this situation, or how would Dad respond to something like this.  Often I can make a good guess, but sometimes I don't know.