Dad was a good man, an animal lover, a history lover, a toker, an inner activist, a horrible cook, and a better dad than he gave himself credit for. His condition caused one to both forget that and to remember it once again. He was at his best once he made the hardest decision to leave what he had known for so long to live his own life on his own terms. It was then that my real Dad finally showed himself and became the man that I will always remember him as. He was always troubled, but he was also genuinely timid and easy maintenance. He was generous, he was smart but not totally arrogant and he wanted happiness for all his family even when we were broken and disgruntled. He wanted his own space and a female president.

He wanted the future to be everything that his story was not. He wanted it to be better. He was a guilted dreamer. I hope that in his death he can forgive himself as I have. He longed for peace and, though life did not provide him that, we all know that death finally has. We all love you Dad and hope you have found the life that you were looking for.

Your kids,

Melissa, Mitchel, Bernadette, and Rebecca