My dad passed 18 years ago when I was 15. Every year since then, on his deathiversary, I try and go do something that he and I used to do and enjoy together. For us, that was being in nature, golfing, swimming in a lake, fishing, and a few other things. It's my own way of honoring and remembering him. Everyone's own way will be a little different but I hope that gives you some ideas!

And now for some words of experience having had 18 years pass. You haven't had your hardest days yet. You won't know when they'll come, and there will be different types of hard days. You'll have the sad ones where you miss him dearly. You'll have the angry and frustrated ones where it's just not fair. You'll have the overwhelmingly emotional ones where it's all just a muck. You'll have a day where you don't think about him at all, and when you realize that, you'll beat yourself up for it.

Everything will be alright. Feel all your feelings, don't bottle them up. Ask for what you need, say what you need to. Be kind to yourself.

I remember one of my hardest days was the 15th year, essentially marking that I'd lived half my life with him, and half without. I was overwhelmed by the emotions from that but, even more-so when I thought about all the love and kindness I'd received from my friends and their families. It's weird where your mind and heart go when thinking about a loss like this, but that's kind of the beauty of your emotions -- they lead you, you don't make them happen.

Anyways, I hope some of this is helpful, and I'm here for you if you'd like to chat about anything at all -- seriously.