Bittersweetness...

Well,
Today was one that can be best described as bittersweet. Today was the 1st anniversary of my dad's passing. That was going to be tough to think about. But I got a good awakening from my radio partner Jamo. He called me on Sunday morning (while I was sitting in Church) and told about a phone call from the Golf Channel last night. The Channel wanted us to follow and film the golfer from the LPGA who's name is Natalie Gulbis. In her history, she very briefly dated Ben Rothlisberger last year. She does a reality show on the Golf Channel called (oddly enough) 'The Natalie Show'. Jamo, Dave and me had to wait for the producer to fly in from Florida to tell us what he wanted us to shoot. Most of the footage was of Natalie's dad. She and he are very close and he looks more like a biker that the father of an LPGA professional. Well since the LPGA was in Toledo for the Jamie Farr golf tournament, we were amongst the throng of people who were out there in the insanely hot weather. The heat index was well over 100 degrees farrenheit. I had to carry a TV video camera all over the golf course. It was heavy and I sweat myself silly. I walked all over the course. I was severly dehydrated and hadn't eaten much. But we got a lot of video footage and we thought for sure that Natalie would win. But she missed a key putt and finished regulation tied for first and ended up in a two hole playoff to determine the winner and lost. Prior to the playoff, the producer was making plans for Jamo, Dave, and I to follow Natalie out and about to paint the town red for her first victory on the LPGA tour. But instead, she finished in second and went to her rented house to be alone... So the producer, Jamo, Dave, and yours truly went to dinner and ate and really had a great time. I felt kind of odd because it was the anniversary of my dad heading to heaven. But my family told me earlier in the day that He would be proud of me... so I took it as a good sign.
I came home late Sunday night with the feeling of sheer exhaustion. I thought I'd check my email and head for bed... got a note from a co-worker that told me that Doug passed away on Sunday afternoon. That hit me in the solar-plexis... one year after losing my dad to the day. Wow. I didn't need that... Carolyn is a mess. She's trying to stay strong but is losing the battle. I really feel for her... God is picking himself up a good man. I hope that Carolyn can feel God's love. She's going to need it to survive a terrible blow like this...God Bless Doug... and Carolyn!