March 31st 1962 - Eternity

47 years ago today, my beautiful parents were married. In the talk I gave at Dad's funeral, I expressed my gratitude for him remaining faithful to my Mother. My Mother was his world and the fact that they remained faithful to each other is something to ever be grateful for.

Here are a few pictures of the most wonderful couple I am proud to call 'Mom and Dad'.

I want to publicly thank our God for sending me to two wonderful people, John and Val Sims. What an eternal blessing to be grateful for.

"We love and miss you Dad"

A Visit to Hawaii

Lance and I just spent a fabulous week in Hawaii. It was a total dream of a holiday. It was an all expenses paid trip from Stampin' Up! I am a demonstrator and earned the annual incentive trip. The whole week reminded me of 'Paradise'. I have not visited such a beautiful place in all of my life.

The whole week I thought of Dad. I always think of him but whenever I am near water it triggers memories. Dad loved the water. Whenever there was the opportunity Dad would be in the water.

He never got to see or swim in the Pacific Ocean. I wish I could have made that happen but I do know he is happy where he is. I totally understand he is closer now than the 5,000 miles which seperated us whilst he was on the earth.

How thankful I am for the knowledge of life after death :)

"We love and miss you Dad"

Back to posting!

I have not posted for a while due to internet issues but mainly due to emotional issues. I can never get through a post without sobbing. Oh dear, I so miss my Father. You know many people say "At least you know where he is" or "He is in a better place". Whilst this is true, I know where Dad would be if he had been 98 when he died.

Today is my birthday and the first one I have never heard 'Happy Birthday' from my Dad. In fact, I cried when I opened the birthday card my Mom had sent me and it didn't have his name in it. I do know he will be sending his love from above and that he wants me to know this everyday.

In every prayer I say, I always thank God for sending me to two wonderful people, my parents. They have done so much for me and been there for me every step of the way. Although Dad is not physically with me now, I can feel his presence and although I really didn't want to go to church today as I was so jet lagged and tired from our week in Hawaii, I could hear my Dad's voice in my mind telling me to get up and go to church. I know that he smiled when I eventually gave in and got up, got ready and went.

I am going to get back to posting daily as I know many of you really enjoy reading our memories and learning more about Dad.

"We love and miss you Dad"

Internet issues

Hello Friends,

Just an FYI! We are having issues with our internet and as soon as it is fixed, I will be back to posting regularly.

I KNOW many of you will think I am too busy having fun with my new camera but now, just as when Dad was alive, nothing would be more fun than being with him nor talking about memories :)

See you soon!

"We love and miss you Dad"

Always look for the good

As soon as I looked at this picture for todays posting, my eyes welled up right away. I cannot even see my Dad's face but just looking at even the back of him brought so many memories. Personally I think it's because he has his hand raised :)

Looking back, I did cause my Dad many stressful moments. He was so forgiving by nature that he would often tell me he didn't remember many things I would often remind him of from my past. (PHEW!)

I am so grateful that I had a wonderful Dad. I have received many e-mails and phone calls, amongst one on one conversations face to face from people who have so wished they could have had a special relationship with their Dad. I miss him so terribly. Just to hear his voice used to make my day.

I was able to share an experience today about how Dad always looked for the good in people. No matter what they did or what they said, he always saw the good and the potential. He didn't bear grudges toward people and did not like backbiting and gossip. There were only a couple of people that for reasons we did not know did not speak to Dad. He tried to drum up conversations and to no avail. When he told me about this, I told him not to worry about it, that these people were not worth it and they were boring people anyway who had no clue how to interact with people. Dad would remind me that we needed to look for the good in them. Never ceased to amaze me how much he 'did' look for the good. (and he always seemed to find it!)

A request! Please keep my Mom in your prayers. She is struggling! She has such a tough spirit but she is obviously missing Dad. For me it is getting tougher so I can't even imagine how hard it is on her. If you have a moment to send her a card, I know she will truly appreciate that. E-mail me at maxbritchick@yahoo.com for her address.

"We love and miss you Dad"

My new 'Baby'

Today I bought a new camera. You may be asking why would I be posting about my new camera and include a picture of the camera on my Dad's blog.

Well...........today was a big reminder of Dad. If Dad were to know how much this camera cost (and I know he was watching me, as I could hear his voice ;) he would fall over laughing. He would have told me how long it would have taken him to earn the money back when he was my age to buy a camera like this.

Even if you didn't know my Dad but have been reading the posts you will know that he never was a monetary man. The camera he owned was not even a digital one. It was the 'old fashioned' one with the 35mm film. He never really was very good at taking pictures. He would normally end up with a bunch of "What on earth is that?" questions as we would look through them. He loved to take pictures and I really wish I had spent some time with him showing him how to get the person in the center of the picture and not right at the very edge :)

Which brings me on to part two of this post. Once I got home and took this 'baby' out of the box and packaging, I came to the conclusion, I may have a better chance of flying a Boeing 737 than handling this piece of equipment. There were 2 DVD's and a HUGE book enclosed giving me full details on how to take wonderful pictures and how to work this 'thing'.

Dad would look at this and want to know where ONE thing was. The button you press to take a picture.

I have a friend at work named Dirk and he is the official Stampin' Up! photographer. (I am a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. Click here to visit my blog). I am going to ask Dirk for some tips and advice. I know I will be able to bribe him with McVities Hob Nobs ( the chocolate ones of course).

I am planning on putting this 'baby' to good use so keep tuned as Lance and I will be going to Hawaii in two weeks. Calling Kimberly Van Diepen from Colorado : "I may need your help sista!" ;)

"We love and miss you Dad"

Never Ready to Say Goodbye

We're never ready to say goodbye

To someone we hold dear.

If it were up to us, dear Dad,

We'd always keep you here.

But God has reasons of His own

And plans we cannot know,

And these are always for our good,

Though it may seem not so.

Our arms are empty and our hearts

Are filled with tears and grief,

For we who loved each day with you,

Now find those days too brief.

Yet if we could only heaven see,

We'd know you're happy there,

And we would never call you back

When such great joy you share.

And so we'll trust you to God's great care

And know some day, once more,

We'll hold you to our hearts again

When we reach heaven's door.



"We love and miss you Dad"