On January 13, the first anniversary of my father's death passed. It was not a good day. We'd planned some distracting activities to make the day easier, but issues with work kept us home. The kids were bored and hard to deal with. It was a long day.
I had planned an entry that day in his honor, but just never found it within myself to post. My friend
Rosa posted a nice entry on her blog about milestones, inspired by our online chat that day. I felt it was too late and abandoned the idea for my own blog completely.
Yesterday, however, I got this letter from Brother John in Arizona. I decided that, despite the anniversary being past, I still needed to make a post. I'm going on the assumption that Brother John won't mind me posting his letter.
When my father was young, he spent some time at a seminary school. He later realized that he wanted a wife and family and left, much to his father's dismay I might add. However, he still felt very strong ties to his former classmates. Brother John is one of them.
Later in life, with Mom gone and the family grown and out on our own, Dad found himself with time to locate several of his classmates and reunite them. He then started
traveling to Arizona annually to help Brother John provide charity assistance to the unfortunate among the Navajo in the area. They built additions onto houses and made various repairs to ensure they had a place to live.
Dad's passing obviously affected these people greatly, and they are showing their appreciation in a beautiful way. It's comforting to know that there are many people -- within and beyond my family -- who, despite the fact we didn't speak, were also thinking of my father that day. He was a great man, and people far and wide were obviously aware of that. I miss him terribly.
