in the name of the father

A father loves.  He guides.  Teaches.  Challenges.  My heart is full of memories.  He worked very hard to make this life I lived happy.  We moved considerably for reasons a child need not know or understand.  Each address truly was home.  He gave us structure.  He was my coach.  My mentor.  He encouraged me and made me believe I could when I thought I could not.  Together we had a passion for music and reading.  He challenged me in baseball until I learned to catch the damn ball.  I learned respect from him.  He was the greatest story teller.

This one day to celebrate his gifts.  Our love for him.  This one day to reflect on his absence.  To wonder if he on this day or any day does he think about me.  I falter with every attempt to reconcile the great honorable man from my childhood to the stranger he has become.  His life means no less loss.  My heart mourns the good that I will still cling to.  I will always wonder why.

 

The passage of time.  And with maturity comes clarity. Seeing my memories as stories, fables for the first time. A whisper of truth wound with fairytale ribbons borne of a young soul.  Constant.  Very much in his shadow.  A woman with a love pure.  A heart kind.  A soul generous.  She provided stability for our family.  The quiet strength of the anchor rooting the mighty ship in tumultuous seas.  This is who I will be celebrating this Father’s Day and every day.  My mom.