I'm Grateful My Dad Was My Dad | Honoring My Father

Ten years after my father's passing, I wanted to honor his memory by sharing the lessons, values, and love he left behind. In this heartfelt solo episode of Worthy & Abundant, I reflect on gratitude, forgiveness, healing, grief, and the beautiful truth that someone can deeply love us while still having limitations. I share stories about my dad's love of nature, animals, natural health, kindness, and the importance of seeing the whole person—not just their imperfections. If you've lost a parent, are healing your relationship with your father, or are learning to cherish what deserves cherishing, I hope this episode brings you comfort, peace, and hope.

Transcript

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Good morning. Welcome back to Worthy and Abundant. I was thinking about my dad today when I was walking outside in nature and I was seeing all the birds and the squirrels and the park benches. And I was thinking about my dad and how 10 years ago this month was his passing, and I was there for him at the end. And I'm so grateful for that. I'm so grateful I was there to help him cross over. And since nobody else was there for him at the very end, I was there. And I remember my uncle, his brother, telling me to call the rabbi, and I did. And the rabbi went to see him and put tefillin on him. And I have a picture of that. And I'm so grateful for all of that because my dad wasn't really religious at all. He actually, because of the Holocaust, he didn't really believe in that there could be a God and allow that to happen, which many people also felt that way as well. But I just want to share some positive things about my dad. Since my last episode, I was talking about the father wound and all of those things. So today, being out in nature, I wanted to share so much about my dad. As I was listening to the birds sing this morning, I realized my dad would love being there. And it made me think of my dad. He loved to feed the birds. He loved nature. He loved squirrels. He loved all animals. And he was vegetarian most of his adult life. He was so kind and loving and sensitive. He would never kill a spider. He would pick up the spider and take it outside. And he was also strong. He would exercise. He had muscles and he knew not to take drugs. He knew not to take pills, even though he was a pharmacist. He knew that drugs caused side effects. And he never took a pill in his life. He deeply believed in natural health. And, you know, before anybody was looking at food ingredients, my dad was noticing the ingredients, and he was saying that the bread should only have five ingredients: milk, flowers, eggs, butter. You know, he didn't believe in all these chemicals in the foods. He knew about those things. And he was very smart and he knew about washing hands. And he taught us about washing our hands and being clean and things like that. And he was a Virgo. He was very organized. He liked things organized. I remember in the last few years learning that I have a Virgo moon. I always just thought I'm an Aries, but I have a Virgo moon and a Taurus rising. It makes sense though, because him and I had a connection and I was the one with him at the end of his life. And I thank God for that. Yeah, I was walking this morning and I just was thinking about him and how much he would love that park that I was walking in. And as I was walking this morning, I found myself talking to my dad. My dad was a great guy in many ways, and he was a good dad in many ways. He was a great provider. And he showed up to work every day. He never missed a day of work in his life. He sacrificed, and not that that's you know what I recommend anyone do, but he believed in security and safety and providing for his family. And unfortunately, he didn't have a job that he really enjoyed. I sometimes wonder if he chose security over fulfillment because providing for us was so important to him. But he was a pharmacist and he was just brilliant in many ways and loving and kind and a good dad in many ways. And I want to thank him for the lessons and everything he taught me. And I know that he did the best that he could with what he had and what he knew and the time and energy that he had. And I thank him for that. And I forgive him for not always being there to protect me. And I love him. And I'm grateful that he was my dad because there's so many other dads out there, and I'm grateful that my dad was my dad. And in honor of his yard site coming up later this month, I want to say thank you, Dad. Thank you for your kindness. Thank you for your love of nature. Thank you for teaching me so many things. Thank you for teaching me to notice what others overlooked. Thank you for doing the best you could. I forgive the places where you couldn't give me what I needed. I cherish what deserves cherishing, and I'm proud to be your daughter. I love you. May your memory continue to be a blessing.