The Bestest One Ever

Feb 28, 2024

My Daddy, Ron Bacon, Christmas 2020


I sent the message, put the phone down, and rolled back into bed. Visions of my Daddy at 89, 90, 91 years old smiling and hugging total strangers, floated through my head. He would say to them in a high pitched voice, as if talking to a child, “I love you!” and did it with such sincerity and a joyful grin, that the people would get tears in their eyes, and sometimes even say it back. Sometimes we’d be in the grocery store, and clerks would come up to him and say, “Hey, Ron! I didn’t get my hug today!” and you could see the life and joy that he brought to their lives with his presence. Sometimes, as his daughter, I felt a little bit embarrassed by the sweet attention he lavished on people. But, this night as I drifted to sleep, I felt how honored I was to have witnessed these moments, and how pure, simple, and honest they were. He was an Emmy Award winning television Director, but these were the great moments that consummated his life on earth. People still tell me how much they miss my Daddy’s hugs.
I realize now how fortunate I am to have had a Daddy who loved me so much, too. We lived together on and off when he needed caregiving. During those times, whenever I would enter the room he would light up and say, with a twinkle in his eye, “I love you so very much. You’re the bestest one ever,” and I would say back, “I love you, too, Daddy. You’re the betterest.” Sometimes it seemed he said it ad nauseam, often several times a day, but always with the same joyful grin and level of sincerity. Now, two years after his passing, as I lay in bed drifting off to sleep, I thought about how I would give anything to hear him say those words again.
A few days prior to this night, I announced quite loudly to my Dad’s spirit, “Daddy, you know that I know you still exist. You also know that it is possible for spirits to manipulate electronics. How come you haven’t turned the lights on and off? Or, why can’t you call me on the phone, or send me a text message? Please? I miss you so much! I need communication from you!”
When he was on earth, he knew full well how spirits could easily manipulate electronic devices. My mother made her presence known to him on many occasions, accenting his thoughts or prayers to her by turning lights on in the middle of the night, or punctuating a sentence by turning them off at a precise moment. My cousin, who passed away in 2009, contacted him by floating a message from her on his computer screen, telling him that she was okay. He was a true believer in all things supernatural and paranormal, so I wondered why he hadn’t made contact with me this way.
The next day when I awakened in the morning, I picked up my phone to reread what I had texted to myself the night before, thinking it would make a good article for Bacon Bits. To my shock and amazement, there was a reply to my text to myself! It said:

I knew I hadn’t texted that to myself. There was no need. I would never need to write that down to remember it. It was imbedded in my soul.
Daddy heard my plea, and texted me from the other side!
I smiled and whispered, “You’re the betterest, Daddy,” and in a high-pitched sappy voice I added, “I love you!”
I love you.