"I'm not ready for this."

Those are the words I said to my dad over the phone as we discussed moving him home with hospice after the treatments had stopped working last March.

That phone call will be forever imprinted in my memory. Not because it was one of the hardest days of my life. But, because of what came next.

My dad simply said, “you will get through this…and you will be stronger because of it.”

The next day, I armed myself with a necklace I had earned from Mary Kay with the words “YOU CAN DO IT” and repeated my dad’s words over and over again as I made the two day drive to Illinois. I repeated those words to myself in the mirror each day I was with him. His words carried me through those 10 days.

My dad probably didn’t know a significant part of his legacy would be the intangible gift he left me. The power to know that I had everything I already needed to make it through the toughest times. The words that will walk forward with me for the rest of my life…and I will lean on whenever I am faced with an uphill battle or uncharted territory.

In the 10 months that have followed his passing, I have often thought about the legacies we leave behind. What do I want my legacy to be?

I have evidence that I can DO hard things. My guess is you do too.

So, if you’re staring up the mountain wondering how you’ll ever possibly reach the top…let me give you a gift. You’ll get through this, and you’ll be stronger because of it. YOU CAN DO IT.