I was alerted that my father passed away. He went through so much. Man was in his 60s had one kidney, arthritis, bad heart, bad lungs, survived a heart attack, and survived Covid twice, only for an infection to slowly take him over the last month. My dad was no saint, but he loved me and my siblings very much. He was was the toughest man I ever knew, but at the same time he was an understanding man.

Back when I came out as gay, I expected him to be disappointed in me, but he accepted me for who I was. He told me, that he didn't care if I was into men, and that all he asked of me was to be a good man. I don't think I understood more than the superficial parts of what he meant at the time, but these last few weeks I think I get it. In his younger days he was a criminal, who was in and out of jail for all sorts of things. I think he wanted me to have a better life and be a better man than he was at my age. I'm happy to say, I've stayed out of trouble and even if I've had my fair share of assholish moments, I've at least stayed on a righteous path.

What else can I say about him? He loved Quinton Tarantino and John Carpenter films. His favorite games were Super Metroid, Super Mario World and Einhander. He was a huge Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne and AC/DC fan. His favorite cartoons were Looney Tunes, Popeye, and Samurai Jack. We bonded a lot over a lot of these things when I was a kid. Now all I have are memories. I wish I could talk to him again, but I'm thankful I managed to talk to him on the phone one final time before things took a turn for the worse.

I love you Dad. I'll miss you. Rest in Peace.