After Losing My Dad, I’m Back on the Blog

I haven’t been able to write for a while—I haven’t felt like it. Just after my last post at the end of January, my 90 year-old father, Stan Evans, fell down, fell ill and died, all in a matter of weeks. I spent most of February in Michigan, by his side at the hospital and hospice, then sorting through his things and wrapping up his affairs. It was shocking and sad, especially since he’d visited us in Florida over Christmas and had been driving to work at his law office just days before he fell.

Losing a parent is a major life event, regardless of their age or yours. I’m grateful my dad was able to lead a full life at 90 and really didn’t suffer too much at the end. But his death, combined with the passing of my stepmother Sharon two years ago, has been a blow. It’s also created a host of aching little losses—no visits to plan, no one to call, no family left in Michigan, no one to remember that fun trip or game or holiday. And of course it brings up thoughts of my own mortality.

My family is small and my only brother lives in Idaho, so we planned my dad’s memorial service for April when we all could travel to Michigan. The service was held at his church in Birmingham on April 15th. It was a comfort and a relief to scatter his ashes and honor his life among his friends and colleagues, just the way he would have wanted. It really did give me a sense of peace and closure. I’ll always miss my dear father, but part of him lives on within me and my children, and that’s for keeps.

As Spring comes into bloom here in Chicago, life continues and so does my blog. Three months since my last post, I’m moving past my season of sadness and renewing my quest to improve my life with curiosity, style and humor. I turned 60 in March, so it feels like a new chapter has definitely begun.

Here are a few pics of my dad, Leland Stanford Evans, with my brother Jeremy and me as kids, with my family at a recent Thanksgiving, and just before walking me down the aisle at my wedding.