six months into my home renovation

six months into my home renovation my worst nightmare became my reality in March 2023 I bought this charming house on the north Side of Chicago with the best bones that needed a little extra love my dad who had spent his entire career in construction graciously agreed to help me fix it up in his retirement one of the home selling points was this empty attic that left potential to increase my square footage and equity in the house in October we got to work on bringing my vision to life. on my days off from work dad worked at my speed so that I could help every step of the way he taught me how to use a a saw measure cut and level not only was he my general contractor he became the ultimate Tiktok producer recommending different shots and providing commentary while he filmed me the days went by and we really started cruising on this project especially once I figured out what the heck a sixteenth was our plans turned to realities in the space was really starting to take shape when our world was rocked on March 4th, 2024 almost a year to the day that I bought my house my dad was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer we went from spending hours in the attic to spending hours in the hospital trying desperately to save him despite the best efforts of his medical team and all of the might he had my dad passed from gleoblastoma on June 23rd, 2024 on more than one day I feared what would happen if my dad wasn't here to help me finish the house but the thing about my dad is that from a young age he always taught us that if he weren't here tomorrow that he would want us to keep living our lives I have received so much support since my dad's passing which has helped me move on with my attic project so many of our skilled friends and loved ones have donated their time to help me get the project back up and running with their help the electric and plumbing was installed and inspection was done and I was ready for insulation the attic is insulated the HVAC has been updated and this week we're prepping for drywall I feared that hanging insulation and drywall would feel like closing up my memories because the last time he was up here it was only framing but the morning that the insulators came I swear I heard footsteps upstairs I like to think it was him doing one final inspection so thanks dad for all your support and help getting me this far we're ready for drywall