“You’ll be in my heart… yes you’ll be in my heart…” Dec. 19, 2009

Hi guys.

Last week was a complete whirlwind. Going through the calling hours and the funeral was actually very healing. It was great to see lots of my dad’s old friends and to hear some cute stories. Katie and I spent some time getting pictures together and laying them out on poster boards for display, also enjoyable, seeing my dad young and healthy. Our mom was right by our side the whole time, that meant a lot to both Katie and I, A LOT. Thanks so much, Mom.

Most of you have already seen, but just in case you haven’t and you wanted to see the obituary, copy and paste the link…
http://obits.syracuse.com/obituaries/syracuse/obituary.aspx?n=c-michael-petryk-mick&pid=137360726

Now that the hustle and bustle is over, I’m trying to adjust to being a person who has lost a parent. This is way more traumatic than I ever thought. The void I feel is immeasurable. I just can’t believe I’ll never talk to him again. I mean, I just had a perfectly normal conversation with him a week ago. But I am comforted knowing that he’s not suffering, and feeling like now he’s watching out for all of us. I feel like now he’s seen my apartment, that he’ll really be able to check in on us in a way that he couldn’t before. Sound silly? I don’t know, but I know he’s out there keeping an eye out for us.

I got a call from someone at Duke on Friday. They’re trying to reschedule all the appointments for the week after New Year’s. I should know for sure by Monday.

We’re snowed in for the rest of the weekend. Brrrrr…..

Thanks to everyone for all your kind words, thoughts and prayers. It means so much, I can’t even tell you.