February

It's funny how your years start to cycle as you develop certain parts of your life, whether it is an important time of year because of loss, or gaines, or there is something you do in that same month every year.

February is a hard month for me, it was 2 years ago this month that my dad passed away. It hasn't been an easy 2 years, so much has happened since he passed, so many changes, most of which I have had no control over.

In times like these I find that I need to hold on to something that I know will be there for me. Sounds crazy, but every February I go to Tucson to buy gemstones for my jewelry designs.

I remember the first time I mentioned to my dad that I wanted to go to Tucson to buy gems. Now my dad was always up for anything and everything. He liked to try new things and he was big on encouraging and supporting others. But one of my dads favorite things to do was to find that great "get". So my dad being the great, and I do mean "great", dad that he was, he jumped in his car a few days before I would arrive in Tucson, and he drove from Sacramento to Tucson, just to scope it out for me. I will never forget his phone calls to tell me about what he was seeing, and all the places that I was going to love to visit. It was like he was hosting a TV show about the Tucson Gem Show. I had no idea then that just a few years later he would be gone. My dad died about 3 weeks after I got back from the gem show, just 2 years ago. He and I sat in Cornerstone Cafe and we talked about my trip and I showed him all the great "gets" that I had found. He was a great support to me. My dad didn't go, but he said "next year I am going to go to the show again". He never made it, at least not physically. As I fly through the air to Tucson, I think about my dad being there, and I thank him for being one of the great "gets" in my life.

I am a lucky girl to have a father who was ALWAYS there for me. I love you and you know that I miss you terribly dad!