Return to Routine

For the first time in a very long while, I am returned to my normal Sunday routine: reading papers, grading tests, watching some football, and spending time with my family.

Things are feeling back to normal finally. Well, let me rephrase that - back to as normal as they can be. Dad is gone and his absence is not as evident as it will be. I think I'm still a bit numb. It'll hit me when I have a problem with the house or car and pick up the phone to call him for advice. It'll hit me when I come across a blooper on Bush or Limbaugh and think, "I can't wait to tell Dad this." It'll hit me when I'm coaching and look around to see his truck outside the gates. It'll hit me at my wedding this summer when there are those two empty spaces where Mom and Dad should be.

But Kevin, Barb, and I have spent more time together in the past two weeks than we have in the past 25 years when we were all still living at home. We will form new traditions and new routines. We will never forget them. And that will help once the numbness wears off.