Storybook Corner: Hannah’s Bridge

I come here often, to her bridge. I can almost see her sitting there with her feet dangling over the edge. She loved it here.

I was always too busy back then. I’ve learned to slow down since, to make time for the important things. You’d think I would have learned that lesson when the cancer took my wife, but I didn’t. Her sickness only pushed me further into my work, and further away from my daughter.

Hannah needed me, but I wasn’t there for her. I always thought I was a good dad. I worked so hard to provide her with everything she could have ever wanted, but the one thing she actually wanted was the one thing I didn’t give: my time.

Her mother’s cancer took a toll on Hannah that I never even noticed, mostly because I wasn’t around. How could I have been oblivious to the fact that my little girl was in so much pain? How could I not have known what she was planning? How can I call myself a father?

I come here often, to her bridge, and think about these things. I can almost see her sitting there with her feet dangling over the edge.