Meghan McCain Says She 'Still Can't Go Back Home to Arizona' 8 Months After Her Dad John Died
Eight months may have passed, but Meghan McCain is still struggling to come to terms with John McCain‘s death.
On Tuesday, The View co-host posted a touching video of her late father, who died in August at age 81 from stage four brain cancer, teaching her husband Ben Domenech how to barbeque ribs on the grill.
Along with the clip, Meghan, 34, shared a sweet message to her father and said the memory was particularly bittersweet because John was teaching Domenech, 37, how to make his special dry ribs before he became too sick to do so.
“241 days. I made you teach Ben how to grill your dry ribs because I knew at some point you wouldn’t be able to,” Meghan captioned the video. “I miss you every. single. day. I still can’t go back home to Arizona.”
A post shared by Meghan McCain (@meghanmccain) on Apr 23, 2019 at 4:26pm PDT
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The touching tribute comes two weeks after Meghan last revealed that her family was grieving again after her dad’s Chesapeake Bay retriever Burma sadly died in a tragic accident.
The pup, who was originally a birthday present to John, had quickly become a member of the family and was a loyal companion to the late politician throughout his life and during his final days, Meghan explained.
“Every time I think my heart can’t be broken any further…our dog Burma was my father’s birthday present years ago and was absolutely and truly devoted to him,” she began the emotional post, which featured a photo of John smiling while Burma sat closely next to him.
“She would never leave his side, followed him around every single step when he would walk around our ranch, slept by his side every night and we always said Chesapeake Bay retrievers were the most affectionate breed of dogs,” Meghan explained. “The love this dog gave him was equal to a family member.”
Following John’s passing in August, Meghan has continued to publicly mourn her father on social media, often counting the days since he’s been gone.
Most recently in March, she shared a photo with the late senator and explained how she had a dream about happier days before John was diagnosed with brain cancer.
Meghan also noted how she intends on keeping her father’s memory alive by talking about him, despite the fact that she still struggles to revisit certain things and places that remind her of him.
A post shared by Meghan McCain (@meghanmccain) on Mar 16, 2019 at 12:17pm PDT
“203 days. It feels like forever and simultaneously like no time at all,” she wrote. “I had a dream none of this happened and we were laughing our faces off by the grill and drinking vodka while you were seasoning ribs with Mom, Bridget and Jimmy on the deck.”
“People say I talk about you too much and it makes them angry… I’m never going to stop talking about you,” she continued. “I’m not ashamed of the pain, or the intensity of grief, or our bond, or how we’re so much alike it freaks your friends out at dinner – or the fact that I still can’t listen to The Beach Boys.”
“The day before you died I went on a hike alone across the creek in the canyon and begged God not to take you home,” she wrote. “I still don’t understand what he was thinking.”
Besides memorializing her father, Meghan has also recently found herself having to defend him against attacks from President Donald Trump.
Last month, after Trump, 72, attacked the former Arizona senator over his alleged involvement with the Russian investigation, Meghan spoke up on The View and slammed Trump for spending his weekend speaking poorly of her late father, whom she referred to as a “great man.”
“[Trump] spends his weekend obsessing over great men because — he knows it and I know it and all of you know it — he will never be a great man,” she stated. “My father was his kryptonite in life, he’s his kryptonite in death.”
