Days with Dad

Tara’sAHEARTandHOMEB

Days with Dad…

Today’s entry definitely focuses on the HEART portion of my blog.  I spent the day with Dad today.  It gets harder and harder to see him lying there in a bed.  Some days it takes everything in me not to break down while I’m there and sometimes I just have to step outside and do just that.  It’s so hard to see your hero, the person who has been the rock in your life, so…..(struggling to find the words.)

I find myself looking back a lot.  Times seemed so much easier then.  As a little girl, I got to be the one who cheered my dad on as a college football superstar! 

Dad and Me at Virginia Beach...probably 1982

At least I have always thought of him that way by all the stories people have shared over the years and the pictures I have seen. 

As I got older, I pushed the boundaries…to say the least.  Even though my dad could come down pretty hard on me, he was always fair.  I remember when I went to college, I realized for the first time that I had a dad who I could go to, about anything, and he would be there for me…disappointed maybe, but there. 

I am Signing to play volleyball at AB with my mom and dad by my side.

When I met Troy, I was so overwhelmed with emotions so I went to Dad and asked him how he knew Mom was the one.  He just smiled at me and said, “You just know.” 

 Dancing with my dad at my wedding 11 years ago

I am so blessed to have my dad in my life…even if that time will be cut short.  I pray so often that I can teach my kids a fraction of the life lessons my dad have taught me.  Sophie is lucky enough to have some memories of Dad before his disease took so much away from him. 

Sophie riding the 4-wheeler with her Papaw 7 years ago

Carter gets to spend a lot of days with his Papaw, but he only knows of him being in a bed.  Sometimes I find myself daydreaming of my dad out playing in the yard with my kids or even walking my sisters down the aisle one day. 

Carter shooting his nurf gun at Papaw

Leaving him when I have been out there is always a struggle.  I am left wondering if it’s the last time I will get the chance to say, “I love you.”  I try so hard to focus on the good times, but there are days, like today, where all of this gets the best of me.

My dad, like so many others, has Parkinson's Disease.  We are supporters of

The Michael J. Fox Foundation.

The Michael J. Fox Foundation is dedicated to finding a cure for Parkinson’s disease through an aggressively funded research agenda and to ensuring the development of improved therapies for those living with Parkinson’s today.

We believe without fail that our goal is within reach - but we can’t get there without your support. Please join the fight today.

My sister, Missy is running in the NYC marathon in November on Team Fox.  Please consider supporting this cause...a cure would life changing to others who haven't even begun this fight yet.

Here is the link to our family's Team Fox donation page.

ING NYC Marathon: Ms. Missy Spangler - Team Fox