Today Mom shared with me she unexpectedly found a note a couple of days ago (Valentine’s Day) from Dad in my old bedroom at the house, a room she has been in and out hundreds of times since August.
Suddenly he was in the room. It was my Dad’s voice, reaching out——
Although Mom doesn’t remember when Dad had originally left the Post-It for her (!), she suspects it was a day where they were both busy on projects, and he would have left the note for a smile. Kenk was one of Dad’s pet names for my Mom – a version of Karen her sister was unable to pronounce when very young. The sound of R trips up many a youngster, as I discovered when working with Speech and Language Pathologists for my 4-5 year old kindergarten students. In the spirit of Kenk, Dad would similarly use “Dick”, an odd version of Richard, for a laugh (or, on a Christmas present or two, “Denk”).
As many who knew Dad well may know, Post-It Notes were a tool for brainstorming, planning, organizing thoughts, and communicating. That the note was on a Post-It makes the note even more endearing and so typically Dad…
The timing of Mom’s discovery of this note, too, was truly remarkable.
In confession between you and I, I had begged Dad for a sign on my birthday on Valentine’s Day. A feather? A song? Something, anything, just to feel his love, to be reassured his presence was still here with us. Little did I know, as Mom was only able to share with me today (February 16), that he had indeed left a message.
Valentine’s Day, 2023. Mom and Dad and heart-shaped pizza, a tradition.