Robert Irwin Says ‘Not a Day Goes By’ Without Wondering What He’d Ask His Late Dad Steve Irwin

Robert Irwin keeps the memory of his late father alive every day.

The 20-year-old told Australian Women’s Weekly if he often thinks about “so many things,” he would ask his father Steve Irwin, who died on September 4, 2006, after being stung by a stingray during a diving expedition off the coast of Australia.

Not a day goes by that I don’t think, ‘God, I wonder what I would ask my dad if he was here,'” Robert said.

“When you lose someone, a father figure, at such a young age, who is such a commanding presence of positivity and all that is good in the world, of course, all I want is for him to be there for me; to go, ‘What do you think about this, what do you mean that one?’ he continued, “There are so many things I wish I could ask him on so many levels.”

Steve Irwin and his son Robert. Newspix/Getty Steve Irwin’s wife Terri and children Bindi and Robert celebrate his 62nd birthday: ‘His legacy lives on’

Although Robert was only 3 years old when his father died, he credits his mother, Terri, and his sister, Binda, for helping him grieve.

“When you’re three, you don’t really know what death means. Whereas for Mom and Bindi, it was pure, unfiltered devastation and loss. And it’s the same loss for me, but in a different way,” he said.

“So the way they’ve helped me navigate my life, I’m so grateful,” Robert continued. “I’ll always feel like there’s a part of me missing, but I never feel like I’ve missed anything.”

Robert Irwin.

Jono Searle/Getty

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Robert has memories with his father that he thinks about through “little things”, like photos or old videos.

“Even something like the shirt I was wearing, and it would just come back. I remember it was always the slightest tickle and I would just start laughing,” he said.

Thursday would have been Steve’s 62nd birthday, and Robert marked it by revealing one of the things that will forever remind him of his father – his old motorcycle.

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“Every time I start that thing, it brings back so many memories and I absolutely love it. Every time I get on that bike and ride the same route around Australia Zoo as he did, it means so much that this piece of machinery loved and used it daily, keeps running,” wrote Robert on Instagram.

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Source: HIS Education