Meghan McCain Remembers Dad John McCain on 3-Year Anniversary of His Death: 'Love You Forever'

"I think about you every single day," Meghan wrote in a tribute to the late Arizona senator, who died in 2018 from brain cancer

From left: John and Meghan McCain. Photo: Heidi Gutman /Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Meghan McCain is thinking of her late father, John McCain, on the three-year anniversary of his death.

On Wednesday the former co-host of The View, 36, honored the longtime Arizona senator — who died on Aug. 25, 2018, after lengthy treatment for brain cancer — with a touching tribute on her Instagram page.

"3 years. How has it been 3 years…? You left a void in this world by leaving it that will never be filled. And when you left, so much light went with you," Meghan captioned a smiling shot of her dad sitting on a wooden bench.

"I think about you every single day," she added. "I miss your laugh, your humor, your wisdom, your cooking… I miss everything. I love you forever, Dad."

Cindy McCain, Meghan's mom and John's widow, shared on Twitter this week that the McCain Institute will be celebrating his work all week as it would have been his 85th birthday.

Meghan has been candid about her grieving process since losing her father. Last year she admitted his death had been "harder than I thought it would be." In 2020, she remembered the two-year anniversary of his passing with a series of sentimental photos she posted on Twitter.

"So here are few memories of my Dad that I hope make all of us smile," she wrote, beginning with a couple videos of John cooking.

"This was one time when I asked for a BLT for lunch and he decided to cook 100lbs of bacon," she wrote alongside an image of John frying up a favorite treat. "He loved to grill and cook and it was never healthy, ever."

Lauren Burke /ABC via Getty.

In a statement she shared the day of her father's passing, Meghan said that she was by John's side when he "departed this life." She also thanked him for helping shape her into the woman she had become.

"In the thirty-three years we shared together, he raised me, taught me, corrected me, comforted me, encouraged me, and supported me in all things," she said then. "He taught me how to live. His love and his care, ever present, always unfailing, took me from a girl to a woman — and he showed me what it is to be a man."

Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images

"All that I am is thanks to him," she continued. "Now that he is gone, the task of my lifetime is to live up to his example, his expectations, and his love. My father's passing comes with sorrow and grief for me, for my mother, for my brothers, and for my sisters. He was a great fire who burned bright, and we lived in his light and warmth for so very long. We know that his flame lives on, in each of us. The days and years to come will not be the same without my dad — but they will be good days, filled with life and love, because of the example he lived for us."

Meghan has invoked her father's lessons and growing up in politics throughout her career. But she has said her last name hasn't always helped her.

During one of her final episodes on The View, in late July, she told her co-hosts that strangers often assume she will be "a lazy, spoiled brat that won't contribute to anything" because of who her parents are.

"It's something I have dealt with my entire life. I no longer care," she said. "I think my work ethics speaks for itself, but I think people think when you have a famous family or a famous parent, everything is just given to you and things are really easy."

For now, the mother of one is planning to focus on herself after "overworking" her entire adult life.

"The absence of sleep, good diet, exercise, relaxation, and time with friends and family isn't something to be applauded," she wrote on Instagram in July. "Too many people wear their burnout as a badge of honor and it needs to change."