Note: While I wasn’t particularly close with my father until my mid-to-late teens, his life was cut short by health issues one month before my 23rd birthday. Moving forward, the “Life Without Dad” section of On My Own will feature letters to my father—written at moments when I wish I could talk to him and share something meaningful. 

Hi Dad,

Thirteen years and one month ago, you told me you’d be going into the hospital for hernia surgery ten days later. You expected to be home by Christmas. However, that didn’t happen. As a result, you weren’t around to help me build my contracting business into the thriving venture we had envisioned in the months before your sudden passing. Instead, I was left to figure it all out on my own, hoping to make it something I could rely on by 2014.

Losing you made everything so much harder. You were the only one in the family who truly supported my dream of running my own business. Without you, the rest of the family didn’t share that vision and didn’t want me depending on my contracting work once I finished my coursework at DePaul.

Things became even more difficult just over two years later. On March 31, 2014, Mom had a sudden and severe stroke while at the gym. From that day forward, she relied on nurses and the family for her basic needs until her passing away, by choice, five and a half years later.

Those six years were a heartbreaking time, and it became almost impossible for me to grow my business into something sustainable. During that time I never had the energy to jumpstart things and build my own website to use as a marketing tool.

Then in early 2020 the world was hit with a shutdown due to the COVID-19 virus and it became even harder for many reasons: including the fact that I had the virus twice while looking for new contracts looking for part-time work which was nearly impossible to find due to the shut down.

Now, as I write this, I’m preparing to head into my shifts today at two part-time jobs. These jobs, along with my contract work, will support me moving forward.

Dad, 2025 will be a rebuilding year for me. With help from a few outsiders it will be the year I focus on, finally, turning my contracting business into something that, hopefully, will allow me to stand on my own—free from dependence on any other job.

I’ve never given up on my dreams. I keep moving forward, learning from my past mistakes rather than dwelling on them.

I wish I could talk with you, but instead, I’ll keep writing.

RIP Dad. September 4, 1944 – December 28, 2011.
Never Give Up!