Never do I realize it has been so long since my father left us. I have often thought what a1 world it would be without children; and what a cruel world without the2 .
My father was a very warm and3 man, quick to lend a hand to anyone who needed it. I always4 my father and deeply admired his way with people.
He was in a care center for years after suffering a series of diseases that impacted his ability to walk and caused his5 to be slow and not clear. It6 me very much to see him there, and we tried to visit him several times a month. My toddler daughter, Kelsey, read stories to him, and he lay listening as her7 ra n wild, pretending to read words from the books she held in her tiny hands. They loved each other dearly, and he was her "Papa." Kelsey was only four years old when Dad died. I was8 for weeks, and Kelsey tried to comfort me. Oftentimes she cried with me or tried in some way to make me feel better. Nothing helped.
I needed my9 on this Earth, and sometimes my heart10 so badly that I thought it might be broken because of sadness.
While we were preparing for Thanksgiving, I heard Kelsey talking to her daddy. They were chatting about Papa and how he had gone to11 and was now watching over us. She said in the sweetest voice, "Daddy, since Mama doesn't have a daddy anymore, do you think you could just 12 yours with her?"
I sighed in relief, bursting into tears. From that day on, my sadness13 . I knew my father had given Kelsey gifts of care, kindness and14 for others.
He would15 forever, in her.
