While I wait for my father’s ashes to return so that we might have a funeral, I have made some changes for the better during this time as well. My focus is less on grief, more on memories, my focus is less on loss and more on replacing it with all I’ve gained in knowing my dad, and making the memory of our loved ones be our guides, with us striving to make them proud. I want to give my children many of the things I didn’t have as a child; an identity, community, culture, spirituality, and much more.
I pledge to go good, be good, do good, and to think good, to live up to my dad’s expectations and the kindness he was known for. I pledge to pursue a deeper journey into my heritage, and to expose my kids and wife to it as well, working together to form a Jewish household. I pledge to be an even better husband and father each and every day, and a constant source of benefit to my friends and family.
I pledge to focus on my health and fitness, as well as teaching my kids and involving them more about staying fit and being healthy. I pledge to live a more spiritually inclined life, to be in the moment of each day, experiencing life through its joys and struggles. I pledge to be a better version of myself every day, in mind, in body, and in spirit, and to strive to make sure I continue down this road always and through everything.
To these things, I pledge to be true and faithful; for family, for heritage, for love, for myself!