When Dad passed, it was raining.
Not a light drizzle, but a steady, honest rain.

And I kept thinking about water.
How it never truly disappears.

Water can rise in an instant,
evaporating into something we can no longer hold.
It becomes a cloud,
traveling in a new form,
to a place we cannot reach.

And just when the sky feels empty,
when we think it is gone for good,
it returns.

It falls back to earth,
touching everything again,
quietly giving life.

Dad was like water.
Strong enough to shape stone,
gentle enough to nurture what he loved.
He moved through this life with purpose,
with humor,
with hard work in his hands.

He showed us what it means to provide.
He showed us what it means to stand firm.
He showed us that love is not always loud,
but it is steady and abundant

And though today it feels like he has risen beyond our reach,
I believe he will return to us
in the lessons he taught,
in the laughter that catches us by surprise,
in the strength he placed inside each of us.

Rain does not mean something is over.
It means something is moving forward.

So when it rains,
I will not feel sad, instead
I will remember,
nothing that gives life,
nothing that shapes who we are,
is ever truly lost