If I had known when our last day was going to be, would I have lived that week differently? Realistically, yes. But only because I would have been panicking. So let's not be realistic. Let's be idealistic. If I had known then what I know now… I would have read to you. I would have read until my throat was sore because I know how much you wanted to be home with a book. I would have turned on all your favorite music. We would have streamed a thousand movies. Anything you wanted to see. I would have brought you anything you wanted to eat or drink. I would have asked 5 billion questions and written it all down. I would have recorded your voice so I never forget the sound. We would have recounted our best memories and I would have asked you, how am I supposed to move on without you. I would have written your memorial and read it aloud so you knew what it would say… I told you “I love you” five-thousand times a day. But I would have said it five-thousand and one just to be safe. If only I had known.
Little hybrid prose poem I wrote that makes me cry whenever I try to edit it so I'm releasing it into the wild. I don't regret any time I spent with my dad, but losing him so unexpectedly has forever changed me.