Alyssa's Father's Day

Dear daddy,

This father’s day means more to me than any other. The past few weeks have been a roller coaster; crazy, unbelievable, amazing and any other word you can think of. Through this experience I have come to see how blessed our family is, how blessed you are and how blessed I am to have a daddy like you. I don’t know what I would do without you. Every time I see you, you are getting closer to the extremely healthy man I know. Today is going to be kind of hard, but at least you are on the road to recovery. Each time I am at the hospital and want to turn down an activity, you always encourage me to participate. While at Ballet Magnificat I will be constantly thinking and praying for you! When I get home I know you will be doing fantastic. You are an amazing daddy and I love you to pieces! Love, Alyssa <3

My dad is still in rehab. His eating is completely back to normal which he is very happy about. He is also up getting around, but he is using a walker. He still has double vision so he switches a patch back and forth. Seeing double is making him dizzy, but the dizziness is also because his blood pressure is low. Another weakness are his weak ankles, which he passed down to me, so this is making walking a little difficult. All in all he has come really far and I am very proud of him!

I have begun to understand the things I needed to learn from this. Mostly it was taught me that I can’t always be independent, sometimes I have to rely on people. When a grown man can barely do anything, he has to let people help him and I have seen that although he doesn’t like it, he knows he needs the assistance. Another thing I have learned is it is ok to break down. Strength is a good thing and I have been strong for both of my parents, but when you need to break down go ahead or you’ll just be a grump the rest of the time. I still haven’t gotten to the point of actually bawling and letting everything go, but I understand that when I need to, I can. When I do feel freaked out or worried, God’s love is everlasting and He will always put a calming hand on me. Without Christ, this whole experience would have been a tragedy and I would never have been able to make it through. God has blessed my family; for some reason my dad is meant to be on this earth or He would have taken him away when He could. I want to be on this earth for a reason and I want to follow my dad in whatever reason that is. Lastly I have learned how amazing and supportive my friends are and that I need to be as supportive. Every time I have needed someone they have always been there. They have made me smile and reminded me that things are going great and can only get better from here.

As this adventure continues I hope to learn more lessons and have God’s love become more and more evident to me. I wanted this summer to be unforgettable and amazing and my prayer is being answered. It wasn’t really answered in the way I was thinking, but God always knows what is best.