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Missy Perez

@missyperez

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hit or missy
📍 PHL

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saw @harrystyles + a @phillies clinch all in 24 hours … things are coming up roses for @missyperez 🌹 taken in Madison Square Garden by @missyperez

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19 days ago

u love 2 SEA it 🦝 taken in Seattle, Washington by @missyperez

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25 days ago

I spent two of my college summers working at a camp in Maine. Every morning, my dad would scroll through thousands of photos on the camp website from the day before, hoping to catch a rare picture of me.

I just wrapped my second summer volunteering with @experiencecamps, a free camp for kids who have lost a parent or sibling. I’ve always believed so strongly in the magic of summer camp, and SomEx has gifted me the opportunity to experience it from a different, deeper perspective.

My dad used to spend his summer mornings sifting through countless camp photos on the off chance he’d find me. While he can’t do that anymore, I like to imagine he’s watching it all unfold in real time instead … and maybe that’s why I feel closer to him at camp than anywhere else.

Lucky him. He gets a front-row seat to the magic now. taken in Camp Somerset for Girls by @missyperez

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2 months ago

8.25.21.

The unanswered calls. The growing panic. The silent ride home from the mall until we neared our street and I said through tears, “If we find him, I’ll never recover.”

“We can get through anything together,” my mom assured me.

I dialed 911 while she did chest compressions. Then I called my three older siblings, finding words no one should ever have to say. The doctors tried for days before concluding the inevitable.

I think about that version of me often. She was 28, but feels like a child to me now, much like the little girl pictured here. I wish I could protect her. She was starting a new job nine days after life-altering loss, back in the place she was born that ironically no longer felt like home.

Impossibly, the world kept spinning while hers was caving in.

I know kids are rarely objective about their parents, but my dad was second to none. He was smart, silly, stubborn, and steady in all the best ways. The kind of person who made my world feel safer and brighter simply by being in it.

I still miss him just as much, if not more. But five years later, the grief doesn’t feel quite as suffocating. It has made room to coexist with gratitude … for the years I had him, the memories I cherish, and the person he helped me become.

I am forever changed by that day in August, but also forever lucky I got the privilege to love and be loved by him.

If you’ve read this far, I’m impressed. And if you still have your dad, you’re lucky. Call him. Tell him you love him. Let him tell you the same dumb story you’ve already heard a hundred times. I’d give anything for one more conversation.

(And, by the way, my mom was right. No surprise there, she always is. We can get through anything together.) taken in Anna Maria Island by @missyperez

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2 months ago

y’all mind if I be a lil corny? 🌽 taken in Field of Dreams by @missyperez

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2 months ago

Dear 2019 Missy, checking in with a few updates. We still call Philly home, and somehow love it more now than you did then. I think you’d be proud of us.

Oh! And the best part is, I’d argue we’re even funnier. taken in Citizens Bank Park by @missyperez

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3 months ago

will need 5-7 business days to recover from this weekend (pls scroll to the end and lmk if you think I should enter, thx) taken in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by @missyperez

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4 months ago

missyllaneous 🫪 taken in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by @missyperez

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5 months ago

the life of a snowbird ❄️🐦 (october-december) taken in Anna Maria Island by @missyperez

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10 months ago

hey, thank you for the lovely bouquet 💐 taken in Saint Augustine, Florida by @missyperez

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a year ago

My dad died four years ago tomorrow, and it changed me forever.

Loss rewires you. I often think of my life in two parts: before his death and after.

This past week, I was in Maine volunteering with @experiencecamps, a free summer camp for kids who’ve lost a parent, sibling, or caregiver. As a former camp counselor — and current healing daughter — it felt like this was made for me. When I saw it fell right before the anniversary of my dad’s passing, I knew I had to be there.

What I didn’t expect was how much the kids would teach me. Grief is brutal at any age, but watching children face it with grit, grace, and even laughter? That’s a kind of magic I’ll never forget.

I arrived at SomEx one week ago, and it changed me forever. 💜 taken in Camp Somerset for Girls by @missyperez

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a year ago

Wait for it #fourthofjuly #bacheloretteparty #cruise #foundingfathers #independenceday by @missyperez

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a year ago