I’m conscious of drawing attention to it on this day more than any other, because really- every day is the same. Birthdays/anniversaries/special days, I talk about it and update my status not so much because it’s on my mind, but more because I know it’s on others peoples minds. And if there’s ever a day to guilt you into appreciating your parents, today is one of those days. I suppose I want to say, just because I’m sad, it doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate all the people that aren’t. I love reading and hearing about all the things you do, and the nice things you say- because that’s how it should be!

I feel like I’m in two halves. One half is saying ‘look at what I have lost! If you moan about your Dad/Mum one more time, I’m going to smash your ungrateful, selfish face in’, and the other half… Ok there is no other half. That’s just how it is.

I think the older you get, the more you realise your parents are just people. They were just bobbing along, they didn’t have any plans, they were just like us. Stuff just happens, and you do the best you can with what you have. I know people who have/had great parents, shit parents, parents die, leave and probably worse. But they’re just people, they have the same propensity to fuck up just as much as we do. But to be fair, I think we have all turned out ok. And that’s a testament to your Mum/Dad or both.

Except the dying bit, I’ve been extremely lucky. I had a brilliant childhood and wonderful, wonderful parents. I was spoilt, but also taught the value of earning money. I never really wanted for anything. And that’s what makes the knotted feeling in your stomach bearable to a point. Because if it wasn’t that great, it wouldn’t hurt so much when it was gone. I don’t mind carrying that around, because this feeling is worth it for the twenty years I got with my Dad. Some people aren’t so lucky.

This isn’t meant to sound like a sob story. It’s just, today is a pretty good excuse to just do something nice for your Mum or Dad. Or your Nan. Or your Aunty. A parent doesn’t have to be a parent, to be a parent…if you catch my drift.

So I’ll go to sleep now, thinking of my Mummy and Daddy, and all the happy times. And you should all do the same.

My Simon Peter Taylor 10/02/1961- 22/11/2005