10/11/2026
Tonight the tower and bridge are lit blue and orange in memory of Bill Smith by his family.
October 2nd marked five years since we lost our Dad to Acute Myeloid Leukemia. He fought so incredibly hard for an entire year.
During that year, he would often say something that has stayed with us ever since:
“Life is for the living.”
Those words taught us more than I think he ever realized. Life is short. Tomorrow isn’t promised. You have to live now, love now, make the memories now, and appreciate the people you have while you have them.
For five years, we’ve continued moving forward through the grief, the pain, the milestones we wish he were here to see, and all of the moments when we’ve wanted nothing more than to pick up the phone and call him. I just hope he’s looking down and is proud of everything we’ve done and accomplished along the way.
At one point, he said he wanted to be remembered as a guy who liked people, loved his family, and was a good Poppy.
Dad, you were all of that — and so much more.
You were the best dad a kid could ever hope for. You were always in our corner. You always had our backs. And no matter what life threw at us, you somehow had a way of making sure we knew that everything was going to be okay.
Five years feels impossible. In some ways, it feels like a lifetime. In others, it feels like yesterday.
We love you and miss you more than words could ever say.
Until the day we get to see you again, we’ll keep going. We’ll keep making memories. We’ll keep loving. We’ll keep living.
Because life is for the living.
And we’ll live it for you, Daddio. ❤️
