Three years and 4 days ago... I lost the closest thing to a father I never knew. It started when my mom and I first moved into the neighborhood... he heard a bit about us... and he helped us out quite a lot. It started as charity... but we became extremely close. He was a firefighter, a professor at Suffolk Selden, he worked for WLNG, he was the MC at the Riverhead Country Fair... just to name a few things.

He treated me like I imagine a father would treat a daughter... I could only imagine, because well... I never knew my father.

A little insight into the sort of person he was

I wish I were home... I'd post the biography on him I'd written for my 9th grade English class... which became his eulogy. My first-ever experience of having any of my writing put out to the public.... was his bio, at his funeral, 3 years ago today.

He never even got to find out the grand decision over which college I picked... or even my visit to what had been my top choice, the University of Rochester.


I want Al back... I miss him so badly... he was the only adult who ever made me comfortsable enough to confide in... the only adult who never judged me or put pressure on me... except where it was justly deserved.

The painful past

• The day I found out. I posted twice that day... and at the time of the first post, I had no idea... NO IDEA... what horrible news I would be in for within the hour.. literally.
  
• The next day Oh, I dealt with the same old bullshit from some of my classmates... and for the most part, it went in one year and out the other... suddenly it was oh-so-trivial. Hoy vey I went to high school with pathetic excuses for human beings... My friends were great as they always have been.
  
• Be warned...EMO-ISHNSS ALERT! Survivor's guilt? Unfortunately, I do still sometimes wonder that.
  
  
  
  I miss you, Al. Rest in peace. I will see you on some unknown date in the future.
  
  
  
  By the way... HUGE hugs and well-wishes to periantari, who also needs them