And thank you for sharing this wonderful and heartfelt story. I was very close to my dad and he passed 14 years ago. My own experience is that I still miss him very much, but the painful ache of him not physically being with me has ebbed away as the years have gone by. It has been replaced with the lovely “brain vignettes” I have of the simple daily things he did as a dad that showed he loved me. And more come daily. Yesterday I pulled out starch, which I have not used in decades. When I smelled it, it took me back to when my mom would let me iron the front hankies he used to wear in his suit front pocket. I was so proud of them, and when he wore them. So I promise- that gaping hole you feel in your heart will continue to fill in with the warmth of his memories.