My Dad, Ronald C. McCord (born in Lawton,OK and lived in Broken Arrow,OK), passed away this past Easter night on Sunday, April 12th. It was an unexpected passing and he went on to be with the Lord while my Mom and the paramedics did all they could to revive him. He is now with my brother (who passed from colon cancer at the age of 32 in 2005) in Heaven watching over me and my Mom and that gives me great comfort.

I had literally half a day to get my Dad’s funeral arrangements in order (the slideshow and the letter) but I know he would be very proud of them both. A lot of my Dad’s friends and my friends asked me to share the slideshow so I thought what better place to do that than here on my own blog. I personally want to give Joe Cook, the Pastor and family friend, one of the biggest thank you’s of my life. I also want to thank SO many more people (James, Bird, Kasie, neighbors, Aunt Linda, Uncle Bob, Summer, Nikki, Laura, etc) but the list goes on too long.

So here’s my letter I read to my Dad at his funeral and the slideshow is below it:

Dear Dad,

It was 9:30am this past Easter Sunday morning and I called to tell you Happy Easter and that I loved you. I wanted Mom and you to know that James and I were actually awake and heading to our church for a great service and you told me Happy Easter, asked if the Easter Bunny had visited and then you told me that you loved me and to have a great day.

No one told me that would be the last time I talked to you.

So with that said, I have a few things I want to say to you, one more time:

You have been the best father a boy could have. I know I haven’t been your typical son: I didn’t like sports, I didn’t like cars and I sure didn’t like to play golf. I wasn’t your star-studded athlete like my beautiful brother was. In fact, I didn’t even like the taste of beer, which I think you guessed because I would always say “no thanks” and then go grab a glass of wine.

I wasn’t your typical son, in many ways, Dad. And the day that I realized I am who I am and that I finally figured out so many things about myself and came to peace with them, my biggest worry in the world was disappointing you. I will always remember the big talk I had with you and Mom one day and in typical Big Ron fashion, you interrupted me… stood up and walked over to me… and with the biggest bear hug you could ever give, you told me “I love you Jeffro. You are and always will be MY son and I love you just the way you are.”

And on that day, Dad, I felt my wings grow and you gave me the lesson to love myself just the way I am.  That’s a gift you have given me that will never be taken away and for that, I just wanted to say yet again, thank you. Thank you for REALLY loving me unconditionally.

You were always my adviser. We talked sometimes 3 times per day, but mostly you were always there to give me advice on my career, my finances, my relationships and even help with my Moxie Mo Show pod cast. You were my #1 fan and I knew I could always count on you, Dad. You were such a great dad to Steve and I. I hope you hear me on this: you are the best Dad in the world. You did your job well, and I want you to know that.

I also wanted to say thank you for loving James and my friends so much. You meant the world to every single one of my friends. Your “daughters” as you would call them,  Freib, Bird and Kasie, love you and they miss you a lot. Thank you for accepting James as your own son as well. He loves you like a father and will miss you more than you’ll ever know. Thank you Dad for loving every part of my life and accepting them into our crazy family.

Speaking of crazy family… mostly thanks to you, the McCord and Higgs family have always been called the Grizwalds for years now. You helped us carry that title with pride. Only our family really knows all the inside jokes and craziness that deems the McCord/Higgs as Griswalds, but just trust me… we are the epitome of Grizwalds when we’re all together for holidays and vacations. I’m heart broken to say that our chief Grizwald is no longer going to be with us, but I want you to know Aunt Linda, you’re most precious sister and best friend, will make sure our family stays as crazy fun as ever. Long live the Grizwalds!!

I have so many things to say to you Dad, but I know how impatient you are, so in closing:

On that terrible day in June 2005, when Steve passed away, I knew it had broken you and Mom’s hearts. As your son, I didn’t know what to do for a while. How do you heal your own Mom and Dad? Yet, through this horrible unfairness and misery, you and Mom continually put yourselves second to make sure we were taken care of. You and Mom raised two of the most precious girls I know. Presley and Savannah were your life, Dad, and every one who knew you, knew how much you loved your grand-daughters. That was my Dad – always putting people first. Always.

I know you held on as long as you could, Dad. I regret that I didn’t get to see you before you went to Heaven. I know you didn’t want to leave your family behind… but I also know you are with Steve. So Steve, I want you to listen to your little brother… I want you to tell Dad that we are going to be okay. I want you to hold him like he held us for so many years and I want you to tell him how much I love him and what a great DAD he was to us. Steve-O, please take care of our Dad and tell him I will take care of Mom, Presley and Savannah, Aunt Linda and the entire Grizwald family.

You are always on my mind, Dad.