June 15, 2014

Dear Father,

Happy Father's Day.  You have missed so many, gone for all these years.  You must have enjoyed that first one, in 1965, when you held Keith and felt the joy and bond of fatherhood for the first time.  A year later you were a dad twice, but by 1968 you were no more.  Sleep had taken you and robbed you of the last 46 Father's Days.

Sometimes Father's Day feels special, and sometimes it just reminds me of the loss I suffered at such a young age.  Sometimes I feel like I'm letting my own children down by not doing more, not being more successful, not giving them everything they want and need.

You left us before I could ever draw you a card, or like my son has done for the last three Father's Days turn you into a super hero.  In my son's drawings, my super alter ego is one that fights with a spatula and a chef's hat shield. "On a mission to save people from bad food everywhere!"  You know, food is an important part of who I am, my son gets that.  Music is what kept you going.  Keith and I get that.

love, your son,

Jason Vincent Alexander Murray