My father died in 2016. This was his birthday. I don't think I noticed the first one when he was gone. I was too busy that year, finishing his business as well as my own. In fact I'm still finishing up some of his business even now, and lately I'm all but overwhelmed with my own. A man like him leaves a hole in the world. It's a deal of work to close such business. To fill the hole would be a life's work of its own.
I wish I had better words for the occasion, but I don't. I will refer you to the same essay I linked below by the picture of his father, my grandfather. It's a piece I'm glad to have written. I'm even more glad that the original was written in 2004. I had twelve years after that to try to make it right with him. I did my best.
Condolences. Don't know what else to say. The greater the treasure, the more the loss. No one is immune, except for those who have awful parents.
ReplyDeleteThis past Sunday would have been my dad's 90th birthday.
ReplyDeleteHard to believe he's been gone 10 years now.
You're correct in that the hole is never filled. One can only live a life that would have made them proudly say, "Yeah, he's mine!"
It's right to remember and honor, as we are commanded to do by God. Curiously, God commands us to love him, our neighbor, strangers even- but not our parents- for them alone does he command us to honor them. There's something special in that.
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