What a true comfort this thread is to those of us that have fathers in Heaven. My dad passed away in 1988 and I was a daddy's little girl, thru and thru. My parents had 2 sons and 1 daughter, and I was the baby of the family. You can see that my dad spoiled me a little.

He was diagnosed with cancer and gone within 5 weeks. I never really had the chance to say all the things to him I wanted to, but he knew how I felt. Growing up my parents were miserable together and finally divorced in 1975. My mother tried poisoning her children's minds with constant put-downs and criticisms of our father. He was a good guy, BTW, putting up with a mean, crabby lady. Sorry, but on a day like this boy do I ever appreciate the kind parent my dad was (won't go there about how I feel about my mom). We had a 2 hour funeral service with a blessing from a Priest (dad hadn't been to church in decades). Immediate family remained behind before the casket was closed, for one final goodbye. Prior to this I was able to smile and laugh, thru the tears while many of his friends and siblings told funny stories about him. Suddenly I realized this was going to be the very last time I'd 'see' my dad and I would not budge. I could not leave the side of the casket. I was having an instant breakdown, I was hysterical. I will admit it now. Everyone tried reasoning with me - the Priest, my husband, my brothers, my mom (who I did not want to look at) and no one was getting thru to me. The funeral directors I know had seen scenes like this so they looked on very sympatically. What happened next will give you goose bumps. My brother with children walked back to his wife and 2 young daughters, to decide what to do. Suddenly his 12 year girl, named Kara, just left her dad's side, walked right over to me, putting her arms around me and laying her head on my chest. Then she pulled slightly away, looked up into my eyes and merely said - oh, Aunt Mary.
That was all it took and I was fine. I looked down at this sweet child and said to everyone - I'm okay now.
I will never forget her kind gesture that day and tell her many times how sweet that was to do. Instinct her dad said since he didn't tell her to do that.
I miss ya Dad - more than you can ever know.
Thanks for starting this thread - it was just what I needed today. To my fellow S2K family members who have lost their dads also, you have my sympathies and gentle thoughts coming your way today.
Mary