A year and a half has passed now, since that tragic day when my father went to sleep forever. I thought I would never recover from this loss. My Dad had always been closer to me than my Mom, and I loved him more than anything in the world. About 3 months after my Dad's death, I was diagnosed with severe depression and put on medication. That medication did not help, so they switched me to another drug. I have been on that drug, Zoloft, for about a year, and it works wonders. Nevertheless, even with this medication, I continued to be devastated, and missed my dad dreadfully. It was a tough time. I don't think I will ever get over this tragedy, but I think that I am now learning to cope with it better, and to try and keep my father alive by keeping his memory alive. This is one of the reasons I decided to make him this web page on the Internet. It's something special between me and him, but it's also for our friends and relatives, people who loved, adored and cherished him. It is my way of paying tribute to this man who will always be a vital part of my life.

Another thing that has proven to be a tremendous source of support has been the Internet. Talking online with other bereaved people, people who lost parents, children, siblings, or other relatives, has helped me to understand that no one can understand a bereaved person better, than someone who has gone to the same or similar experiences. Also, talking with other people, who have gone through these traumatic events, helps put the experience in perspective, insofar as you realize that you are not alone. There is someone else out there, who understands, who knows what it feels like, and who allows you to grieve in your own way. It helps to talk about your experiences, and about the way you try to cope with your loss. Every person has a different coping mechanism, and exchanging opinions with other grieving people helps to make your own grief more bearable.

By putting down into words these thoughts, I am hoping to give other people like myself hope, that life goes on, and that we can come out of a tragedy with new strength, new insights, and new outlooks on life. I was fortunate enough to help myself, after a long period of depression, to come through all the tragedies I experienced, and to be a new person who looks at life and death as simply transitions.

I would like to thank every one of my Internet friends for their support, also, my counselor and all my friends and family, for helping me gain new faith, and become a stronger person.

Thank you, Daddy, for being my father ......