Sadness South Florida Style

Hey Everyone, (said with a sigh and my head hanging low)...

I have some sad news to share with you, so sad that it has taken me a while to be able to have the energy to write it, so here goes.

Last weekend, (aka January 28th, yeah it took me awhile) I was planning a birthday party for my Dad.  He was turning 82 and I really wanted to do something fun and exciting for him.  Especially since he had been in a spiritual and emotional funk for a while.   Ever since my Mom died 10 years ago, aka the love of his life, we knew he was sad but started dating right away.   We didn't understand why he didn't take some time to grieve but eventually he met a wonderful lady who was widowed and they lived together until she passed away a year ago.  Then that's when his sadness for my Mom really became overwhelmingly apparent.  My sister and I believe he was truly depressed for a long time and didn't give himself a chance to grieve through it.   Whenever we would talk to him about it he just brushed it off like 'I'm not depressed'.   So fast forward to the beginning of my paragraph (cause you know I can get sidetracked) and I really wanted him to have fun for his birthday.  You don't turn 82 everyday ya'know!

I called my Dad's best friends, aka our 'second family' (which aren't related to us but they truly are my second Mom, Dad, sister and brother...love them so much!)  And as the sky gods may have it, everyones schedule was free and they could all attend and the weather was beautiful!  Whew, that is an accomplishment within itself.  So "Don's 82nd Tropical Extravaganza" was set in stone for Sunday January 28th on his actual birthday!   I had a surf and turf spread of all his favorites planned out...appetizers of smoked fish dip, brie and crackers, veggies, honey roasted cashews...then for the main event we were going to have grilled steak, king crab (and not krab with a k crab hee hee), roasted sweet & regular potatoes, grilled corn, salad, garlic bread....and for the finale homemade coconut cake, homemade guava cheesecake and fresh fruit.  My 'second sister' Linda was bringing salsa music so we could dance (he loved to dance and hadn't for a long time) and it was going to be epic!

Or so I thought, until I received a phone call from my Dad's neighbor Sunday morning. 
She said, "Hi honey, I'm so sorry to tell you this but your father has passed away."

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The above space is my brain trying to process what she had just told me.  I said, "What????Wait what???Your kidding right?What???What????Seriously?Whaaaaatttt???"

And then the hysterical sobbing and body shaking happened.

It was a truly surreal experience made especially more so because I was at the Publix grocery store and had just walked away from the seafood department where I was beaming with pride and happiness talking to the young gentleman about the day's events and why I needed so much crab.  

I went back to the seafood department and sobbingly said "Excuse me but I have to give this back. I'm so sorry."  The young man looked at me like oh gosh what just happened to her.  I told him "they just called me and told me my Dad just died."  And without a second thought the young man dashed from around the counter and hugged me tight and said "I'm so sorry to hear this!  I'm so sorry."  

That meant the world to me...a huge thank you to you fine sir, thank you!

So it's been sad around here and even though I am super sad and feel lost sometimes, I know he died quickly, peacefully just how he always wanted to go.  And it makes me feel better knowing that he's not sad anymore.  He's with his beloved wife of 40 years.  He always said "you know, I would have loved to have been with your Mom for forever."  Now you are Dad, now you are.

We have literally thousands of pictures of our family but here are a few pictures I'd like to share with you of my Dad.  He loved experiencing what life offered, good and bad.  He loved his family and friends, meeting new people, road trips, boating, fishing, mowing his yard, swimming in the pool, family get togethers, holidays, our many pets, going to the beach, dancing, inventing new ideas, gardening and was an avid reader.   He never said anything mean about anyone and was so caring about people it was almost to a fault.  His enjoyment of life and selfless giving to others will always be remembered.  We will have his celebration of life service February 17th here in Lighthouse Point, FL.
www.horizonfuneralcremation.com/obituary/240944/Donald-Burg/#obituary

This is my Dad went we went to the Keys not long after my Mom, his wife, passed away.

This is my Dad and Mom with my grandparents and my great grandparents.
This was the house warming party for when they bought their house in Miami.

My Mom and Dad at Parrot Jungle

My great-grand parents, my grand-parents and my parents

Me and my Dad...yes it used to get cold in Miami hee hee

My Dad and sister

My Dad and brother

My brother on my Dad and me on my grandfather, Pop Pop.

All of us at Matheson Hammock park

My Mom, Dad, me, my sister and brother at our neighborhood block party.

My Dad and I at YMCA camping trip

Canoeing at Johnathan Dickinson Park

My sister, brother, me, my dad and grand mother (his mother-in-law) on a family vacation in California

My Dad, sister, Mom, grandmother and brother

Our immediate family and 'second' family

My sister, Dad and me

See his face....that's his truly happy face!

Dad with grandson Alex

My Dad and grand daugther Maddie

Me and my Dad

My sister, brother-in-law, my niece & nephew and our 'second' family

Me and Dad

Me and Dad

Me, Dad and my sister.

My boyfriend, his family and Dad

My Dad's 

I love and miss my Dad so much!

Emotions ebb and flow, tears stream from my soul and sadness catches me off guard.  My Dad was one of my best friends and this time around it's going to be a long hard road ahead.  My brother passed away 14 yrs ago, my mom passed away 10 yrs ago, my last grandmother passed away 9 yrs ago, my fiancee passed away about 5 yrs ago and now my dad is gone.  So needless to say it's been rough around here.  When another family member dies, all those things you feel come bubbling back to the surface.   It's hard to swallow sometimes, the air feels a bit different, the body feels dehydrated and life spins a little weirder tilt at ya.  Though when I ground myself, I find that it reminds me to be grateful for all the amazing years I was able to have with them, memories are more precious than gold, er is it bitcoin now a days.  Anyhow he left us with so many stories to tell in order to keep their memories alive.  For which I now have to write down so I don't forget, lol.  When he left me voicemails he would  always say "And happy gardening to you my dear!"

And so with that I bid ya'll adieu and happy gardening to you while I go cry salty tears on my plants.  Just kidding they're falling on my desk. :)

Go give your family a huge hug and smother them with kisses!

Best wishes and many thanks,

Sheri B.

xoxo