(((((Deb, with the big heart)))))
I went a little crazy just before my son died and didn't sit by his bedside the way I should have. I regret that. Someone told me that I did the best that I could at the time. I want to say that to you. In the situation of not saying goodbye and telling your dad that you loved him, you did the best you could at the time. Maybe it would have been the worse case scenerio and he wouldn't have remembered you. In your heart you knew that you loved him. Maybe he knew that, too.
I don't know what happens when we die, but if there is life after death, your father already knows that you love him. If there isn't, it doesn't matter any more. Be happy that you are a loving, good-hearted person who feels this pain because you really did care about him.
After Eric died, I was eaten up with guilt. One night I had a very vivid dream and I told him that I was so sorry for not being there as much as I could have been. He said, "That's okay, Mom." And then we hugged, for a very long time, and I knew it was okay. Tera, I wish you could visualize the same thing for you. Think of yourself in a beautiful garden. Tell your dad that you are sorry. Hug him. Feel him hug you back. And really believe that he has forgiven you and knows that you love him. He wouldn't want you to be sad this way, thinking of him with regret. Remember the reasons why you loved him. That is the best tribute you can give anyone who is gone out of your life.
I believe what's been said, that good comes even from bad decisions or mistakes we've made and life is too short to keep kicking ourselves over things that can't be changed. I went through my list of what I would change, but the truth is, if I had to do it again, I would probably still screw up. (((((((Tera)))))))