Fourteen years seems like a very long time to most people, even to me.
But when I think about the last time I saw your face or heard your laugh, fourteen years seems like yesterday.
I've missed you more at certain times in my life, when I've felt like I really needed you the most and you weren't there.
This year has been one of them.
As I embark on this journey in bodybuilding a fire is lit inside of me.
I got this from you.
You would be so incredibly proud of the amount of weight I can put up, Dad.
Your scrawny little tomboy is a member of the National Physique Committee!
Funny, I know.
You entered me in my first beauty pageant and always tried to get Brindy to be the bodybuilder...
little did you know it would end up to be me.
The older I get the more I realize how much I am like you.
And with every similar characteristic I smile,
knowing you're still here.
You're still around.
In me.
In Brindy.
In her eyes, and in her build, I still see you.
You're not gone and certainly not forgotten.
In 12 days I step on stage for the very first time.
And for all of the moments that I've felt alone on this journey,
You'll be there with me,
In me,
cheering me on.
So in memory of you, on this day, the day you were taken much too soon,
my workout is dedicated to you.
August 20th, 1959-
April 29th, 2000
I love you, Dad.
