I called my dad tonight to let him know that I love him. I don’t do it nearly often enough. I guess I assume that he knows, but that isn’t good enough. I was with a friend tonight when she received the call that her father has less than a week to live. We all cried with her. And she kept saying she thought she would have more time and that she regretted not calling him. So, even though it was later than I normally call my parents, I called so that I could tell him that I love him.

I call my mom all the time. It’s natural. It’s part of my daily routine actually. I call her every morning and every evening to say I love you and see how she is. Sometimes I call her during the day to vent or to seek advice. We’re really close.

I call my dad for advice. I call him when my computer won’t work, when I’m lost, when my car needs something done to it. He’s the practical man. I know that I can count on him. When my car broke down this past spring he drove out and fixed it for me. Stood in the rain and drained all the water off of my engine. He changes my oil, checks my tire pressure, and nags me about running on gasoline fumes before I fill up. He keeps my computer updated, does the maintenance work, gives me advice about what to do with it when it won’t work. When I first started driving around in Houston, I used to get lost regularly. So I’d call my daddy, he’d google map my destination find me on the map and talk me through how to get there. He takes care of me. And yet, I rarely call him just to see how he is doing. I don’t call him to fill him in on my day.

I do call for prayers. I do call when something big happens, but, I have excluded him from my daily life. It’s not intentional. I just don’t think to do it. And besides, I just know I’ll always have more time. Until today, when I watched a friend’s tears as she learned that she has no more time. And, it broke my heart. And changed my mind. I called him tonight. I’ll call him tomorrow. He needs to know that I love him and he needs to hear it daily. I need to know how he’s doing, not from my mom, but from him. I need him to know that I’m proud to be his daughter. That I’m thankful for his love, for the care he gave me. Because, tomorrow might never come and I don’t want any regrets.

Dear Daddy, I love you. Goodnight.

~The Countess~