![\"P1110645\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newyorkcitygal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/P1110645.jpg?resize=640%2C646\")
<\/a>All smiles next to my tree<\/p><\/div>\n
Along with laughter and some yummy dishes (including homemade vanilla pudding from my late grandpa\u2019s recipe), I shared my home makeover progress: a fresh coat of paint in the bedroom, a completely reconfigured office and framed recent photos replacing the many I had displayed of my parents. If there\u2019s such a thing as feng shui, I\u2019m definitely feeling a lot more of it as this process continues.<\/p>\n
Being the wise man that he was, Dad had urged me long ago not to hold on to so many knickknacks from our family home. But letting go of the past \u2013 or, at least, honoring it without letting it hold you back \u2013 is something that takes time to be ready for. I can think of no better Christmas gift than to know that I am finally in this place of embracing a fresh start.<\/p>\n
Today also marks the seventh night of Hanukkah. I could feel Dad\u2019s spirit with me tonight when I lit the menorah.<\/p>\n
Rest in peace, Dad.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The holiday season is a time for making new memories and cherishing old ones. I\u2019ve been doing a lot of that \u2013 especially today. Eight years ago today, my beloved Dad passed away after a lengthy, heroic battle… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"New Blog Post: A Season Of New Beginnings http:\/\/wp.me\/p4J0fq-45","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[88,75],"tags":[89],"class_list":["post-253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-holiday-season","category-new-beginnings","tag-holiday-parties"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4J0fq-45","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.newyorkcitygal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.newyorkcitygal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.newyorkcitygal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newyorkcitygal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newyorkcitygal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=253"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.newyorkcitygal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":257,"href":"http:\/\/www.newyorkcitygal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253\/revisions\/257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.newyorkcitygal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newyorkcitygal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newyorkcitygal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"DadMel0001\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newyorkcitygal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/DadMel0001.jpg\")
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