In Memory of Ralph Edward Stauffer

I have been dreading this post. For almost a week now, I've been tossing around ideas of what I might say about how losing my Dad has impacted my life. I'll go back to that day momentarily and then progress forward. It was a Tuesday and I was scheduled to work a full day. The weather wasn't very nice, rainy, in fact. I received a call from Dennis around 1:30 p.m. that Kitty had been in an accident and he was on the way to the hospital; she had fallen on a pencil and had a puncture wound in her forehead! I rushed from work and arrived just as they did. I scooped Kitty up and carried her in. After it was determined that she would receive stitches, Dennis left us to go back and pick up the other children from school. In my mind, I thought to call my Mom and Dad and let them know when I got home. Kitty was feeling lousy, of course, but she was fine - Thank God.

Well, we got home, had supper to make and dishes to do as well as a community meeting to attend a few houses over. I did manage a call to my Mom before we left. Daddy liked to stay up late to watch the evening talk shows, so I knew I could catch him when we returned. We had just arrived at the meeting when Dennis' cell phone rang. It was my sister-n-law, Laura from Texas. She said that something was wrong with Daddy and it didn't look good. She had no more information than that. I hung up, looked at Dennis, said I had to go, and started running for home. By the time I made it, there had been several more phone calls to the house and I needed a moment to catch my breath! Very quickly after that, Daddy was gone. Pronounced dead at the hospital. I was on my way to Texas...

In the year since he died, my grief sometimes becomes overwhelming to me. There is a TV show, a joke, a newspaper article, a political contest, an e-mail, a hug that he is missing. Not only is there a huge gap in my life, I see so much of the loss in my children. A ball game that Dad will never see Jack win, a dance he won't watch Kitty perform or a band concert he won't hear Ali play; Watching them grow and seeing what wonderful people they are becoming. I believe collectively, my siblings and I, can all say we miss him most for our children. He was such a wonderful Grandpop. We were so blessed to have him for 50, 47, 38 and 34 years of our lives - what an amazing grace we were given!

I LOVE YOU DADDY. I miss you each and every day and hope that you have peace and joy, warmth and laughter, access to a beautiful golden horn to rally the angels, a nice Saltillo plate every once in a while and a Harley Davidson for when your wings are tired.