My dad died when I was 10. I wish I could ask him one question

Any time Brian Lewis hears Reggie Jackson's name, sees Little League sports or listens to someone doing an impression, he thinks of his late dad, Marc Lewis.

"Something I remember about him is always supporting me, specifically in the sports I played growing up," Brian, 27, tells TODAY.com."He was always at my games despite working full time in Queens and always making time for me, my sister and my mom."

Despite losing his dad 16 years ago, Brian still sees him each day when he looks up at his bedroom wall.

"I'm looking at a poster of Rocky," Brian tells TODAY.com, adding he and his dad enjoyed watching the iconic boxing movies starring Sylvester Stallone together. "One of the last memories I have of my dad is going to the theater to see 'Rocky' with him, my friend and his dad in December 2006 shortly before he passed.

Marc was diagnosed with stage-4 glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain tumor, on October 18, 2006. He died on May 17, 2007 at 53, just one day shy of seven months post-diagnosis. Brian was just 10-years-old.

"I've lived more years without my dad than I had with him," Brian says. "There's only so many memories I have at this point."

For Brian's sister, Amy Lewis, who was 15 when their dad died, it's the smell of freshly cut grass that brings her right back to the family's Long Island home.

"He was everyone's favorite person," Amy, 31, tells TODAY.com. "Everyone looked up to him, admired him. He coached all of our sports teams (and) was very involved. He took great pride in taking care of his lawn, and the landscaping around our house.. the smell of cut grass on the weekend is something I vividly remember. He was just like...the ultimate family man."

But the two siblings admit independently of one another, they don't talk about their dad very much.

Instead, each year they come together on the anniversary of his death and Father's Day to enjoy cheeseburgers in the parking lot of All-American in Massapequa.

"We each get quarter pounders and eat them in the car. (Our dad) grew up in Massapequa and went there all the time," Amy says, adding that they often eat in silence. "It’s just hard to talk about as adults when there’s such a big piece of your family missing."

It's why Amy was surprised when she found out her brother was starting a fitness challenge to honor their dad.

The challenge, 50/31, encourages participants to run 50 miles in 31 days during the month of May, which marks both Brain Tumor Awareness Month and the anniversary of Marc's passing. It started in 2021 and raises both awareness and money for The National Brain Tumor Society.

"I was floored," Joan Lewis tells TODAY.com of her son's initiative. "We're all very close, but the kids really didn't talk that much about their father...and I'm just beyond proud. I believe that Marc was there helping me raise them. I always felt that he was like right on my shoulder. He would love this."

As Brian prepares to mark another year without his dad, he can't help but wonder what just one more conversation with him would be like.

“Now that I’m an adult and I’ve lived more years without him than I had with him, I just wish I could ask my dad....how did you do it?" Brian says. "You were at every sports event, every activity, you came to all practices and games for me and Amy, all while working full time in a different borough, and I saw how you loved mom...I just want to talk about life."

But there's one thing Brian doesn't wonder.

"I know he's always with me," Brian says. "He's watching over me and steering me the right way as I try to navigate my way through life. I just wish he could be here in person to do it."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com