Dad...9/30/41-6/18/02
Dear Dad,
your absence in my life is particularly noticeable today. you've been gone 9yrs now. a lot has been going on in my life since then...as i am sure you know! Hank and I will be married 10yrs in the fall. the boys are growing so fast! they are smart and funny and beautiful!
i miss your face, your hearty laugh, your big strong hands...i miss you talking about your many projects and your veggie garden...i love how you loved your family and took care of us your whole life. i always felt safe with you.
i remember long ago camping at Port Henry Beach, taking the boat out to fish early in the morning...just you and i. it was chilly and buggy and i really wanted to sleep in...but i also wanted to spend time with you alone...and since no one else would go fishing with you, that was my opportunity! when you are one in six children, that one-on-one time is very precious! you made me bait my own hook and cast my own line, but i cherished those hours with you, no matter how silent they were. we usually caught dinner, and you at least took the fish off the hook for me and cleaned them too! i remember watching you as you de-scaled and fillet'd those small mouth bass and strawberry bass. they were so yummy!
i also recall, years later, taking long walks with you after your first heart surgery. you walked so fast, i almost had to jog to keep pace with you! it was those "alone" times with you that i will keep in my heart forever.
i am so thankful that you got to meet Hank...or as you called him "Hanky Panky!" do you remember the time when he asked you for my hand in marriage? i don't believe you saw that one coming!! LOL!
i mourn for my boys, the loss of their pepere...they will never know your honesty, your sense of humor, your love. but i hope they will get to know who you were by the journals i kept/will keep, and through the stories i share with them.
i miss you and love you so much!
your little "turkey,"
Mare
your absence in my life is particularly noticeable today. you've been gone 9yrs now. a lot has been going on in my life since then...as i am sure you know! Hank and I will be married 10yrs in the fall. the boys are growing so fast! they are smart and funny and beautiful!
i miss your face, your hearty laugh, your big strong hands...i miss you talking about your many projects and your veggie garden...i love how you loved your family and took care of us your whole life. i always felt safe with you.
i remember long ago camping at Port Henry Beach, taking the boat out to fish early in the morning...just you and i. it was chilly and buggy and i really wanted to sleep in...but i also wanted to spend time with you alone...and since no one else would go fishing with you, that was my opportunity! when you are one in six children, that one-on-one time is very precious! you made me bait my own hook and cast my own line, but i cherished those hours with you, no matter how silent they were. we usually caught dinner, and you at least took the fish off the hook for me and cleaned them too! i remember watching you as you de-scaled and fillet'd those small mouth bass and strawberry bass. they were so yummy!
i also recall, years later, taking long walks with you after your first heart surgery. you walked so fast, i almost had to jog to keep pace with you! it was those "alone" times with you that i will keep in my heart forever.
i am so thankful that you got to meet Hank...or as you called him "Hanky Panky!" do you remember the time when he asked you for my hand in marriage? i don't believe you saw that one coming!! LOL!
i mourn for my boys, the loss of their pepere...they will never know your honesty, your sense of humor, your love. but i hope they will get to know who you were by the journals i kept/will keep, and through the stories i share with them.
i miss you and love you so much!
your little "turkey,"
Mare
Nice Rosemary..I always enjoy your writings...you are a sweetheart...I very sure your Dad would be honored by your sensitivity to life and what's important in it. You are a very wise young woman. So proud of you..marie
ReplyDeleteI know what u mean I guess he took us all out solo he sure knew how to spread the love. he sure did make us hook our own worms those big ugly night crawlers I dont know how I did it guess I just apprecated that alone time too! Awesome Mare luvs you lots. He sure was a good "DAD" in every aspect of the word. Miss ya much pops, how he hated when I called him that. Think he got a little tickled though. Keep up the good blogs Mare enjoy hearing your heart.
ReplyDeleteThis is precious. Thanks for sharing such an "open" letter with us.
ReplyDelete