A father’s gift
Sometimes when you hear an uplifting story you need to get out of the way and just let it tell itself.
That’s not easy for a journalist to admit.
I came across this story a while ago and felt it needed a wider audience.
Jesse Sepeda died on March 9 at the age of 52 after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was active as a coach and organizer in the local youth baseball, wrestling and football programs. He was well known in the community and the process to rename a local ball field after him is currently in the works.
With her permission, I am sharing his daughter, Kasie’s experience as the first Father’s Day without her dad approached:
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As Father’s Day approached I was scared, I didn’t know how I was going to feel or react. And like I always do, I decided to go talk to dad and I just so happened to get off work early, so I decided to go see him. As I sat there I laughed and cried, brought up last year’s family golf outing and how (upset) he was because he lost, then I felt someone come up behind me.
There was a man, that I never met before in my life, who came up to me with tears in his eyes and said “ I woke up today with God telling me I needed to go to the cemetery. I just had this overwhelming feeling that someone needed me and to hear from God today. I drove around this cemetery and found you, and something called me to you. I just wanted to give you this, and let you know I’m praying for you.”
We talked about dad and I told him how much I needed to hear that, especially today. We sat there and prayed together and cried together.
He handed me a small white box. Without even thinking about it, I opened it when he left.
As some of you know, dad was an avid pocket knife collector. He would buy them off of EBay by the bulk and would not even open them. We would be making fun of him because of the amount of knives he has.
I opened this box and it just so happened to be a pocket knife. I started to cry happy tears. It was a sign so strong, I felt him and God with me.
It is truly amazing how everything works out the way it does. People always tell me that he will forever be with me and honestly, I doubt it sometimes. But today, it truly shows that he is always looking out for me and always thinking of me.
Thanks for the gift dad, even though this day is about you. I love and miss you so much!
Happy Father’s Day.
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-Chad Williamson is the managing editor at the Journal-Tribune.