RIP Dad

So, on the same day of my last post, a few hrs later...... My father passed away in NYC............................................................................................

My father was 83yrs old, had a full but HARD life... My dad told me that he lost his parents at the young age of 8... He basically had to raise himself along with his two sisters... While developing his love & passion for music, he overcame soooo many challenges throughout his life to the point he was afforded a great opportunity to create a better life for his family by moving from Haiti to USA.

I'm so thankful for him taking that opportunity, (because I probably wouldn't have been born).... I am the youngest of 7 siblings (3-sisters/ 3-brothers & me). I believe that he and I had a special connection.. I was truly blessed enough to be his and my grandfather's name sake. Honestly, I don't know much about and still learning things about my grandparents, but based on how my dad was, I truly believe that they were AWESOME!!!

When I was younger, one of the 1st times I witness the true (physical & spiritual) strength of my father was when I saw him deal with his bout with Prostate cancer and overcame it...Wow!!! To see him go to chemotherapy and deal with the ups and downs truly humbled me.

The 2nd thing was seeing him deal with the loss of my mother, his wife of 32yrs... I was 19 at the time and to personally grieve and also seeing how he grieved was life-changing. My dad was a very private person... Didn't share much, didn't express much publicly, but one thing for sure he wasn't ashamed to show his love and affection towards me all of my life... Most of my siblings (even my mom when she was alive) said that he favored me... Personally, I never believed that (lol), but I truly appreciated his love and affection that he showed consistently all my life.

At the age of 6, my dad sat me down on our piano bench at home and began teaching me the fundamentals of Music Theory and from there I started playing Classical Piano...

I can't imagine where my life would be without my dad's hand in my life. I thank God for his time here on earth and I pray I can carry on his legacy.

Big shoes to fill...smh

Love you forever Dad!! RIP

Jr.