Growing up as a young child, you get a feeling of happiness whenever you see your parents. You play catch in the street or you run around in the park with them. Your parents have an incredible imprint on your growth and development. As you age further, your parents begin to talk with you about morals, the importance of school, and what it means to be a positive force in the world.

As a child, you imagine these types of conversations to keep going into the many years of adulthood (even if they get so repetitive you become annoyed). So what happens when this worldview can no longer be your reality?

Early in October, I lost a very important person in my life. My dad. I never thought that I would lose a parent while I was in college and when I was only 19-years-old. This new found reality that I now find myself in has taken time to adjust, but slowly the adjustment is being made.

My dad and I didn't always see eye to eye on everything, but he was a lifelong supporter of me. I remember him teaching me to ride a bike and he screamed when I ran over his foot by accident. He would take me to the barbecues of his fraternity members and I would get to meet my second family. He would take me to all of my basketball games.

But the thing that touches me the most whenever I think about him is that he was one of my biggest supporters when it came to music. His unconditional support has often been the thing that keeps me going.

Shortly before he passed, he sent me a text message saying, "When I miss you, I watch some of your old singing videos." We hadn't been talking for a good time and in that moment, all I felt was warmth. Warmth in my heart that even though there was physical distance, love was always in the air. The father-son bond was impenetrable and whenever we fought we would get right over it.

I won't lie. Being in a voice lesson is hard when you know that he won't be at my next recital. Auditioning for shows is painful knowing that he won't be in the audience when I take my bow. But that's just the physical presence. Our lives cannot only be determined by the comfort that we physically feel. The presence of others that we sense around us gives us the purpose that we need to keep going.

Music is one of those fields that is not at all individualistic. You seek to use your talent to give your audience a memorable experience. It took my dad's text message to me for that to really sink in. A performance that you give can touch someone in the moment and because of technology they can always revisit it when they need that special feeling again.

Loss is an important reality of life, but we cannot allow ourselves to be consumed by it. I now keep on keeping on for the next person that I can give that special feeling to at a performance. Music is no longer just for me, but it's for everybody and it took me losing someone important to realize that.

So here's to you dad! Someone who in my 19 years of life taught me so many lessons. You taught me to love and you taught how to be there for other people. All the many lessons which can't be enumerated here are still forever going to be on my heart. I love you long time and see you on the other side.