No Matter What

I love this picture of my Dad with Danielle.  It was taken in the backyard of The Serenade Lane House, sometime in 1972/early 1973 I'm guessing.  

We were still one big, growing family, under one roof, living the daily crazy that was being a Boyaner on Serenade Lane at that time.

The photo was put away...somewhere in a box or an  album and I hadn't seen it in years. Decades. And then. And then she was gone. Danielle was gone and I wanted to see every single picture that had ever been taken of her.  I wanted to study every smile, every outfit, every haircut.  

I wanted to remember what she sounded like, what she smelled like.  Her laugh. Her smirk.

And then I found this picture.  Most definitely capturing a time when both my Dad and Danielle had so much of their lives ahead of them.  

My dad has always adored his children. You always knew that. He hugged, kissed, ran after, danced with and whistled to us. If you were lucky, he even sang his little "deedle dum" happy song while you were with him. 

As an adult, Danielle loved to invite my dad over for dinner.  It brought her an enormous amount of pride to cook for him.  I'm sure her memories of days like the day when this photo was taken, when it was all just starting out, still his little yollie bird... filled her heart with hope for a brighter future.

I know my Dad is filled with sorrow over the loss of our beautiful Danielle.  I hope he can find comfort in knowing that she always knew how much he loved her.  No matter what.