Steven LaChance Blog

I love this photo of my dad.

We were waiting for people to arrive for the Christmas candlelight service at church. My dad was sad because my mom had come down with the flu right before it was time to leave for the service. He hated being apart from her.

He was the church president for many years and we always arrived early to open things up, make sure the heat was on, and the luminaries were lit and burning up the long entrance road to the church.

All of that work had been done on this night. Everything was ready. We were waiting for people to begin arriving for the service. My dad was sitting in the spot he sat every Sunday. On the day of his funeral, I sat in this same spot for a while, talking to him within my mind before everyone arrived. It made me feel closer to him somehow.

My dad had given up sitting in the front of the church when we were kids because he understood the inevitability of one of us getting ill and the embarrassment that could cause. So he preferred sitting near the back of the church where it was easy to retreat if needed with any child or grandchild who happened to be with him.

This photo meant a lot to me when I took it, and it means even more to me today. Merry Christmas, Dad. I love you and miss you.”