My Daddy

As everyone who reads this knows, almost 3 weeks ago my Daddy passed away unexpectedly.  While some moments I find I'm still in a state of disbelief there are others where looking through pictures and smiling at his handsome face makes me so happy.  He was just such an amazing man and I feel so lucky and thankful that I had him in my life for the time that I did, even if the time feels much too short.  While no words I can write here can even touch the surface of how much I love him, how much I miss him and how amazing of a father he was, here are some of my favorite pictures and memories I've come across so far.

My Dad loved sports, he was a great athlete, an All American high school Quarterback and captain of the basketball team.   He went to Brown for his Bachelors and then earned two Masters degrees after that.  In a time where people love to talk about themselves he had such a quiet demeanor about him, he was so humble and never made us feel like we weren't as smart as he was.

Here are my parents on their honeymoon in Bermuda.  They have set such a beautiful example for my sister and I on how to love each other and how to be amazing parents.  Even before my Dad passed, Kimmie and I always used to ask, how do they do it all?  Both of them have great careers, my Dad coached basketball for at least 9 years between Kim and I.  They never missed our games in high school, they took the time to get to know our other coaches, friends parents, take us to dance and piano lessons.  I don't remember a time where running and exercising wasn't a priority to them, they somehow found time for everything.  As we got older they created such a welcoming home for all our friends to come to and took such interest in everything that interested us.

I have been a Daddy's girl from my very first memories.  We had something special going on from the beginning and to this day I have no doubts that he knew how much I love him.

Here we are at my first trip of many to Disney World.

Aren't we such a good looking tan family down at Hampton Beach :)

Another trip to Florida, I love his blue eyes in this picture

Back in Disney World, MGM studios.  Kim was 3 and I was 9.  The Aviator Ray bans that he's wearing in this picture are still upstairs, he hung on to them because he said he knew they would come back in style. Now Kimmie wears them!

Mom and Dad in Naples at my Mom's Aunt's condo that we used to go to before my parents bought their own a couple years ago.

On my wedding day.  Dad and I were too cool for a limo, he picked out a Rolls Royce for us instead :)

7 months after Rob and I got married the original Merrill's went on a cruise.  We had been planning on one after I graduated from FSU, which was also around the time of my parents 25 anniversary but instead Rob and I got married at that time.  Rob wasn't able to come because of schools he was in, but we still made lots of fun memories on this Caribbean vacation.

One of the days in Mexico Dad and I consumed large quantities of Dos Equis...and we felt the need to yell "Dos Equis" with every refill.  Neither of us were ever able to drink another Dos Equis without hearing an enthusiastic "Dos Equis" shout in our heads.  It was a great day in Mexico.

We had lots of fun in Hawaii too, especially in their first visit before there were kiddos to hang out with.

Then Daddy became Papi.  He said he was too young and cool to be called a Grampie so he chose "Big Papi" after David Ortiz. After finding out he was going to be a Papi he did increase his gym time I think in his form of denial, but he loved the kids and they loved him.  Not too many Papi's are great body surfers and can hurl their 50lb granddaughters into the air when they demand "Up in the sky Papi"

Dad was so excited when finally after having 4 girls in a row born into this family, we had a boy!! When Jake was a few weeks old he flew down to DC and brought him his first basketballs and football.  We were all looking forward to him helping Jake out with sports and giving him pointers after games as Jake grows up.  It makes me so sad for both Dad and Jake that they won't have that, but I have no doubt he will be watching over Jake as he grows.

The girls loved their Papi too, from the moment they saw him whether it be at the beginning of a trip or when he got home from work they told him to "Go hide Papi" or "Up in the sky Papi" He was their playmate and buddy.  Most of the pictures of the kids with Dad are on my computer at home so that will probably be a post for another day, because there are tons of them!

Last May my cousin Lisa got married and we got lots of pictures of the 4 of us all dressed up.  Dad always looked nice even if he was just mowing the lawn, we liked to joke that us 3 girls can clean up nice too (sometimes).

The way Ducky has been acting lately there is no doubt whose dog he was.  Ducky has been moping around and has had tears in his eyes for the past 3 weeks.  Usually he goes to bed during the day and takes lots of naps, and would never lie on a wood or tile floor.  But now he just lies next to us looking sad where ever we are day and night.

My friend Sarah took this picture at Jake's 1st birthday party. She wrote "I will always remember Scotty with a smile on his face and near his amazing family" As I've been looking through pictures, even recently standing in line at Disney he always looked so happy when he was with us, as we were with him.  It didn't matter if we were in Florida, at the beach up here or just sitting around in the backyard, our family just knew how to have fun together even if we were doing nothing.

This is one of my favorite pictures of my parents taken at Filomena's in Georgetown in September of 2011.

My parents and I after the Marine Corps Marathon, as I look back at this past year I got to see so much of him, and I was so proud to have him cheering me on that day.

This is from our recent Disney trip.  I am SO thankful we went, he always made going to Disney such a perfect vacation for us and he had wanted to go with the grandkids and the whole family.

Ava with YiaYia and Papi Easter morning in Naples which was a couple days before we headed to Orlando.   Hard to believe all of these were just 2 months ago.

Well I don't really know how to conclude this post. I am so thankful for so many memories, most of which I probably haven't even gotten around to remember yet. While we should have had many many more years with him, I still feel so lucky for the time I had and wouldn't trade one day I had with him for a lifetime with anyone else.  

"May you always walk in sunshine and God's love around you flow, for the happiness you gave us, no one will ever know.  It broke our hearts to lose you, but you did not go alone, a part of us went with you the day God called you home.  A million times we've needed you, a million times we've cried.  If love could only have saved you.  You never would have died."

Love you forever Daddy