Sunday, June 17, 2007

Happy Father's Day

The greatest gift I ever had
Came from God; I call him Dad!
~Author Unknown


Fathers need not fathers be.
All one needs to do is choose
To love for life, and that embrace,
Held long and hard, bestows the grace
Each craves. For all in time must lose,
Restored alone by memory.
So now it is with you and me.

- By Nicholas Gordon

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My father died fifteen years ago. He wasn't a model father. We were both strong-willed and stubborn and fought constantly. But he loved me. I loved him. He was my dad. The same tough guy who would sing "You Are So Beautiful" by Joe Cocker to me. It embarrassed me terribly, but now I can't hear the song and not think of him.

I still miss him. Days go by when I don't think of him, but some days I'm still all but crippled by the loss.

I didn't take the opportunity to spend more time with him before he died, and when I realized I needed to, that time was short, it was too late. He was in the hospital and on so much pain medicine he hardly recognized me. This is my biggest regret in life, and one I'll never get a "do over" on.

Give your dad a hug, or a phone call, if he's still around. Don't wait to tell him that you love him. You never know what tomorrow will bring.

5 comments:

Judy said...

I know what you mean about waiting "too late." My mom and dad divorced when I was five. I found his address and phone number when I was grown and kept thinking I wanted to call him to ask him "why"? A lot of different whys. He died four years ago. Maybe I never really wanted to know why.

MJFredrick said...

HUGS, Marianne!

Anonymous said...

*hugs* sweetie.

Shauna said...

Thanks for the reminder to live with no regrets! It's obvious that your father loved you very much! "You are so Beautiful" - you were daddy's girl and he knew you loved him! Think warm thoughts and enjoy the sweet memories! *hugs*

Alice said...

Hugs for Marianne.

My dad decided to leave us, just like that -- that was more than 12 years ago. I think he's still alive but we don't know his whereabouts. He recently got in touch with my mom and asked for a divorce and wanted my mom to do all the paperwork. I don't know what kind of a man he is, but indirectly, he taught us a lot. My mom and my siblings, we are all very close-knitted.