So there I was all alone, waiting for this day! Finally I get to see my dad again! I can’t believe that God is allowing him to come down to earth for one more day…just to spend it with me! He passed away from a drug overdose on August 21, 2011. I already have my day planned out; we are going to go to the…wait, what was that? He can’t be here already! When I open the door, I see the face of an angel! He looks so replenished. No scars, no tattoos, he doesn’t have that gap between his two front teeth, and best of all…he has a full head of hair!!


“Hey, Dad!” I shout, as he embraces me in his arms, “I missed you so much! You wouldn’t believe what has happened since you’ve been gone!”


“Trust me son,” he replies in a calmed voice, “I was able to see everything.”


I invite him in. We sit down to eat my special homemade hamburgers . . . they are his favorite! After we are done with eating, I tell him that I bought us tickets to go tuna fishing!


“Really?!” he replies anxiously, “I have always wanted to do this!”


“Are you ready?” I ask with enthusiasm. “I’ll drive this time!”


With slight laughter in his voice, he replies, “Alright, just don’t get me too close to the wall!”


We get into the car, and we’re off! It only took an hour to get to our destination, and we are still twenty five minutes early! Since we have some time to spare, I decide to just show him around.


“Wow,” my dad exclaims, “I wish I would be able to live here, it’s so beautiful.”


“Yep,” I reply in a calm manner, “the east coast never looked so good until you got here.”


Somehow, I feel as I did when I first met him; it’s almost like the first day back in Menifee, California. When I was growing up, I lived with my mom. My dad was in prison and wasn’t on track at the time. My mother told him once he got out of prison that if he could get clean for one year, then he would be able to see me again. When I came home from school one day, she told me that she has a surprise for me…when I opened the door, there was my dad, my step-brother and my step mother. I didn’t know who anyone was so my mom introduced us. We started talking, and then went outside to ride motorcycles! That was a very good day for me. I realized that I resembled my dad in a lot of different ways; his size, his face, and even though I have my mother’s nose, I still looked more like him. From that day on, I knew I was always in the right place.


After we are done driving around, we board the boat and to my surprise, we are the only ones scheduled for this trip. I didn’t know it but I had bought special tickets for only reserved parties. We introduce ourselves to the captain, and we are off! The boat ride takes two hours, but now it’s perfect tuna feeding time!
We all gather in the front of the boat to see the fish scanner. There are huge fish everywhere! As we are dropping our lines, and are almost to the bottom, my dad shouts, “Fish on!”
The captain straps him in the chair, and I put down my pole and help.
“Fish on!” I yell, as the captain comes to strap me in.


“We need to hurry and get these fish in,” shouts the captain over the roar of the waves, “These waters are infested with sharks!”


All of a sudden, my dad shouts, “I see it!” in pure amazement, the captain goes up to the railing and then runs down, back into the cabin.


Next thing I know, he comes running out screaming, “Move!” with a gun in his hand. I see him pull the trigger, hear the loud burst and then see the blood everywhere. I’m still strapped in my chair, so I have no clue what he just shot!


“I caught a shark!” exclaimed my dad, “A great white!”


In pure amazement, I reach into my pocket, get my knife, cut my line, and unstrap myself. I walk over and see it. The biggest shark I have ever seen! “You have got to be kidding me!” I exclaim, “It’s huge!”


As the captain and my dad haul the shark on board, I won’t even get near it. I hear my dad whisper to himself something I can’t catch, and then see a huge smile on his face. “Thanks Jake!” he yells to my surprise.


“For what?” I ask in complete puzzlement.


“For this great day!” he replies, “I never thought that I would catch a shark!”


As we head back to shore, the captain lets us know that we can’t keep the shark because he has to report it to the coast guard. That’s fine with us though. My dad and I have a little catching up to do. We talk about sports, school, and most of all, heaven.


“You wouldn’t believe what we get to do there.” He says. “I’m not allowed to talk about it, but as long as you keep having faith in Jesus, you will be up there with me some day.


I don’t take these words lightly, and I don’t question him about why he can’t speak to me about it, because somehow, I know that it will be very special when I arrive in the presence of God.


By the time we get back into town, it is already eight o’ clock so I decide to take him out for dinner. We decide to go to The Diner. It is just a plain diner where we have friends who will also love to see my dad again. When we arrive, everyone greets him and we sit down to eat. As usual, I get my chicken tenders with coleslaw, and my dad gets the steak. After I am done paying, we go outside to get back into the car to go home.


When we get to the car, an important question pops into my mind… “Dad…when will I get to see you again?” I ask. Then, all of a sudden, he starts to fade away, becoming more and more distant as the seconds pass. “Wait!” I shout in complete despair, “I still have a lot to tell you!” As he keeps fading, he also starts to be lifted up in to the sky. I can see his lips moving, but I can hear nothing. I keep shouting for him to come back, and then I realize what he is trying to say to me… ‘I love you’. As my eyes start to drown in their own tears, all I can do is whisper to myself, “I love you too dad.”


Suddenly, everything starts to evaporate into thin air, as gravity pulls me down and I am falling…but from where? Right before I hit the ground, I open my eyes to a dark room. I get up, stumble on something familiar as I try to reach a light switch. When I do, I realize that the perfect, most amazing day with my dad…was just a dream.
Or, was it?