Well, I guess I wasn’t considered family.

Well, I guess I wasn’t considered family.
For those who knew my dad, Ira Burnett, I’m heartbroken to share that he passed away six days ago. I only found out this morning—not from the people I should have heard it from, but from someone on the outside who thought I already knew. It turns out the news was kept from me, and from others who loved him too. It was hidden.

I don’t have the right words for how deeply this hurts. Losing a parent is already hard. But to be kept in the dark, to not even be given the basic respect of knowing he was gone… that kind of silence cuts even deeper. I’ve had to process his passing not surrounded by family or supported in shared grief, but blindsided and alone.

To anyone reading this who knew my dad:
Yes, it’s true. He passed away. You can find the obituary here: https://www.holleygamble.com/obituary/ira-burnett. I don’t know why some of us were excluded. I don’t know who made that decision or what their reasoning was. But I do know that withholding grief and connection only adds more pain to an already heavy loss.

Ira Burnett was many things to many people. To me, he was my dad. And no matter what happened or how others try to rewrite that connection, that truth is mine—and it always will be.

If you knew him, remembered him, or have memories to share, I would love to hear them. Even now—especially now—they matter more than ever.”