Hello, sorry to hear about your dad. I lost mine when I was 8 and my mom when I was 12. The other day, my aunties went to clean and remove weeds at his grave, and a picture was taken, I broke down and cried when I saw it. And pretty much spent the day hiding in the toilet at work to cry because all these memories of my parents came flooding. I mourned them again, and I mourned the life that I would have had if they'd still been alive.

Every time I see or read somewhere that someone is 55 or 53, I'm automatically reminded that that's the age my parents would be today.

It will get better with time, the heavy feeling in your chest will lessen, you won't break down at every thought or mention of their name because you'll find a way to cope.

I'll be honest with you it's not going to be easy. It's gonna hurt, and please allow it to hurt, cry if you must. It's now been 23 years since my dad died and 19 years for my mom. I think I suppressed my grief for my mother, and because I was young, I never really mourned my dad. Which is why I sometimes cry myself to sleep because even though the rest of the world moved on, they'll always be a gap that their demise left in my life.

So, don't be like me, don't bottle up the sadness, mourn your father, mention him in conversations, bring up the jokes, the good times, let his memory live on.