December 12th Remembrances

December 12th is the day I always think of my dad. It was his birthday. He's been gone 15 years now, but it could have been yesterday when this day rolls around because I always think a lot about him and how much I miss him. He was in my life for 27 years and he was a big part of my life. My dad was disabled by the time I started school and so he was the every day presence in my life growing up while my mom worked. During elementary school I could walk home for lunch because school wasn't far and my best friends, Lynn and Laura, likewise went home for lunch. Conveniently they lived across the street. Each day that I went home (some days I bought the school lunch like when they were having pizza), my dad always had my lunch waiting. I barely remember those times now. It's been years and I am 42 now. I remember feelings more than actual events. I suppose it's like that for most of us. I was always very close to my dad. My siblings knew I was his baby. Sure there were some bumps in the road. There always are, but for the most part my dad was a great dad and I will always miss him. Last year at this time, I sat on the bus on the way home from work wishing for a sign from my dad. Some indication there really is life after death. The next morning, December 13, 2006, as I pulled into the parking lot where I catch the bus for work, the radio station that plays Christmas music 24/7 during the Christmas season began to play a song called, Mamacita donde esta Santa Claus, and it was even the version of my youth. I sat there letting it wash over me. It was chilling.You see, when I was a child, it was my favorite Christmas song and as Christmas approached, my dad would play that record for me when I came home from school. It never failed. I'd come home and there he would have it playing and I absolutely LOVED it. So, when I heard that song the morning after asking for a sign from my dad, I knew I had gotten one. Some skeptics would tell me it just coincidence. But as they say in Signs, can it be that there are no coincidences? I don't know. But it doesn't seem like mere coincidence to me.