Father’s Day…

Father’s Day…

This one lands differently. There is a Fathers Day that rarely gets spoken about. ❤️

It’s easy to think Father’s Day is simply about cards, barbecues, socks and those “Happy Father’s Day” messages.

For many, it isn’t.

A father doesn’t stop being a father because his heart stopped beating.

His influence doesn’t disappear with him.

His laugh still echoes around a kitchen.

His sayings still get repeated, smiled at.

His teaching’s still quietly guide decisions.

His love… somehow still finds a way to land.

My children lost their Dad, but they didn’t lose everything he gave them.

He is in the way they laugh.

In the values they carry.

In the kindness & understanding they show.

In the courage they find when life gets a bit tough.

And every now and then one of them will say something, move in a way that is much like Gareth, it catches my breath, makes me smile.

People often wonder how children cope after losing a parent.

I think they carry them.

Not in the same way they once held their hand… but in the way they hold onto who they were.

For widowers, there are children missing the Mum who taught them gentleness, who was there to celebrate their Dad with them.

For widows, there are children missing the Dad who made them feel safe.

For children, there is often a quiet ache that never quite leaves.

Yet somehow… love keeps doing its job.

It changes shape & finds another way.

Today I’ll think of every father who isn’t here, but is still very much part of the family.

And I’ll think of every Mum, every grandparent, every step-parent, every friend and every team quietly helping carry what one person can no longer carry alone.

Heaven calls, families change.

But love has an extraordinary way of adapting.

Thinking today of everyone whose Father’s Day carries both gratitude and grief. Laughter & tears fit together, snugly.

Celebrate the Dads doing their best & those carrying their love forward.

Love leaves a legacy. Celebrate that.

Michelle ❤️