Kanye West's Mom Donde West

My father passed away of a heart attack in 2004. I would'nt say that I have lost him. I think about him everyday. I feel him around me sometimes. He will always be in my heart and in my mind.

I lost my dad when I was six and I can tell you that there is absolutely nothing like losing a parent. Obviously, when my dad died, I was very young and his passing had a different kind of effect than the loss of a parent would have on an adult child, but it leaves a hole in both cases.

When you lose a parent, you're left with this space that was once filled by one of the two biggest impacts on your life (the other being the other parent). Suddenly, that person who you can always turn to is no longer there.

I remember shortly after my dad died I was sitting on my parents' bed with my mom who was trying to help me with math homework. I've never been good with numbers and neither has she. That's why, up till he got sick, my dad was always the one to help with that part of homework.

As we were struggling through some adding or subtracting, I remember the rise of a sense of frustration within me (a frustration I still get when dealing with numbers that are confounding me). The concept just wasn't making sense and my mom wasn't able to explain it in a way that I could grasp. At one point she looked up and out the window as she sighed to try and take a new tack.

"Oh good, there's dad. He can help," she said without thinking.

My heart almost exploded with joy because I immediately thought that I would get it now that my dad was here to explain it. Of course, he wasn't. It was her dad and she felt awful right away for saying what she did.

It was at that moment that I realized he would never be there to answer my questions or provide me with help.

He is always with me, in a different way of course, but that physical presence, never will be again.

I also want to say that I think it's beautiful that you can feel the loss of someone like Kanye enough to be moved to write that poem. Thanks for sharing.