Father's Day

2 days ago it was April 16th.

Maybe this date means something to you. Maybe it's your birthday. Maybe it's the date you went on holiday last year. Maybe it's Government Day in Bakwadistan. For me it's the day on which, in 2002, Father died.

In the days immediately following his death, I remember we had various leaflets and books strewn on the table about how to deal with bereavement. I recall flicking through some of them. One of the most useful nuggets of advice I found was that, while everyone's grief is as unique and individual as their relationship with the departed was, these reactions do seem to roughly break down into 3 popular reactions:

1. Loss.

2. Hate.

3. Nothing at all - life goes on.

I recall another piece that said, somewhat mathematically "You should not make any big life-changing decisions that you don't want to, e.g. start a new job, move house, get married etc., for the next 3 years."

Last Saturday was my 3-year marker. And I never noticed once the entire day that it was April 16th.