What's in a Date?

There are specific dates in our lives that are pretty significant - birthday, wedding anniversary, the purchase of a new home, the purchase of a new car, the first time visit to a foreign place and so many other important milestones in our lives.

It's amazing how a simple date can bring back so many memories - memories which, for the most part, remind us of something that we're proud of, or something fun. But what happens when the date in question brings back memories that are more along the lines of bittersweet and sad? We can ignore it, pretend whatever the memory is did not happen and try to erase it from our past. We can put up our shields and fight back all the feelings that date brings along. In the end we only fool ourselves - do we forget that this date, regardless of what it signifies, comes around every year?

So what's there to do? Well, I think we have to face the memories head on and be accepting of the fact that whatever happened has happened for a greater reason that we currently cannot understand. It's tough, oh so tough. Today is five years since my dad passed away. Not a day goes by that I don't think about him and miss him and day dream about what life would be like if he was still around.

Today marks one more year of healing and a reminder that I am not in control - at all.