Being a father is one of the most amazing experiences in the world. You get to watch a baby be born. You get to watch your child grow up. You get to experience the amazing things they go through in life. You get to see their first teeth. You get to see their first steps. You get to take them to the store. You get to hug them. You get to cuddle with them at night. You get to tuck them in.

But along with the happy things comes sad things. June 29 was a sad one of those sad things occurred; it was an experience that a parent never wants to go through: watching part of your kids' childhood come to an end.

June 29 was the end of an era. It was the end of a cultural icon. It was the day that my family and many other families said goodbye to a huge part of our lives. We watched Toys "R" Us close its doors on June 29 and it felt like a part of our lives died.

This wasn't just a toy store. This was a place that my family went to. This was a place that I spent countless hours walking around in with my children. This was a place where I bought my kids Christmas presents for years. This was a place where I saw my kids' faces light up at the possibility of owning something they've always wanted.

And on June 29, Toys "R" Us closed its doors forever.

I am not one of the folks who went into the store upon its closing. I did not witness the empty shelves. I did not see the dolls sitting on a shelf all alone. I did not see the employees crying in the store as their livelihood closed up and shut down forever. I did not go in one last time to walk the aisles that were once full of the most amazing toys on the planet. I could not bear to watch my kids' childhood die.

The executives of the company are to blame. The greedy management that bankrupted this once amazing company are to blame. The people with high salaries, expensive cars and those flying around on jet planes are the ones to blame for the death of my kids' childhood. They are the ones to blame for the end of an era and the passing of a cultural icon.

On June 29, the United States saw a sad thing happen. We saw the doors close of a once great enterprise. We saw the doors close to a store that was once bustling with kids. This was a store that was once lined with toys. This was a store that had boxes of the latest toys that had just debuted.

We saw a company go out of business that once had lines around the corner and down the front of the mall the day after Thanksgiving. We saw the end of a company that was once making billions of dollars. But it wasn't only about the money. It was about the commercials on TV. It was the advertisements we heard on the radio. It was the huge sign posted on the outside of all these buildings that was recognizable by anyone in the country.

The love of our life was a giraffe named Geoffrey. He was the face of this company. He was the cultural icon that people like me grew up with. We all wanted to be a "Toys 'R' Us Kid."

This is the store that I spent countless hours at with my kids. This is the store that I once walked around for hours gazing at the toys, looking at the new games and saying a prayer that one day I could afford all of these amazing things for my children. I wanted to give them memories that lasted forever.

I saw Geoffrey the Giraffe standing at the front entrance of the door every time I walked through with my kids. This was a part of our life. This store was at the local mall near our house and on June 29, along with hundreds of other stories in the country, it closed its doors. Thanks to poor management. Thanks to horrible people running the company into the ground while getting rich and not caring about the kids. And thanks to people not taking care of things the way they should have.

On June 29, we said goodbye to a part of our life. We closed the door on a friend. We watched him walk away, a suitcase in his hand, knowing that he's going away to a place somewhere we will never find.

Goodbye Geoffrey the Giraffe. I'm going to miss you. My kids are going to miss you. And we wish you well wherever you go. Life will never be the same without you.

A part of our childhood has died and it's never coming back.