For whatever reason this past weekend I found myself thinking often of my father and stepfather. Both of these important men in my life reside in heaven.
In a little background. My daughter who was a delightful surprise was born 9 months after my stepfather’s passing. Amazingly the day of my stepfather’s memorial my husband out of the blue said to me “We should have a baby girl and name her Ericka James after Rick (my stepfather)” My stepfather’s name was James Eric and he went by Rick. Little did he or I know but I was at this point just a few days into pregnancy. A little while later my mother was going through my stepfather’s nightstand to look for a few things she was thinking of giving my boys and came across my baby ring. We were surprised and thought it strange that it was on HIS nightstand. I knew once I found out I was pregnant it was going to be a girl, it was his way of letting me know I decided.
My daughter is named after her grandfather in the first name only. (I’m sure my mother will comment below regarding her middle name not being James it is a very touchy subject with her, and sometimes I do regret not following through and giving her that middle name). I spelled her name E”rick”a to honor the name he went by Rick.
A few months after she was born I was saddened that she would never meet her grandfather. If there was anyone that had a way with children it was Rick, she would have had that man wrapped around her little finger. So I wrote a poem to give her one day and wanted to share it today.
Here are a few scrapbooking pages I’ve done with my fathers in mind.



