This week, on October 22, my father would have turned ninety-eight, had he not left this physical plane at the tender age of seventy two. In my father, a man as flawed as the rest of us, I witnessed goodness, devotion, and integrity up close. This is an unvarnished truth. I am not romanticizing it from a distance of years.
Here's a quote from Pablo Neruda: "Absence is a house so vast that inside you will pass through its walls and hang pictures on the air.” And here's another one, this one from Toni Morrison, possibly an antidote: "If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it."
Happy birthday in the unseen, Daddy. Twenty-five without you feels like an eternity, yet it seems you were here just yesterday. Sometimes I imagine you are with me still, I just can't see you with these human eyes, and isn't it pretty to think so?
I can't imagine having had a father to miss. I imagine the pain is intense but I am sure there is comfort in being able to imagine his presence.
ReplyDeleteYou are blessed to miss your father. I have not missed my father sadly. It was a relief when he died and isn't that just so sad to have to say.
ReplyDeleteLove these quotes. Our fathers were so close in age, and we lost them just a few years apart. My dad died at the age of 73 in 1992. They live on somehow in these wall-less houses...and forever in our hearts.
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed pretty to think so. I love the Neruda quote...it is quite visual. My mother passed last May, and I have dreams where I am wandering large buildings, all empty, looking for her. I know she's there somewhere, but I cannot find her. I, too, like to believe she is still here, somewhere close. She had just turned 86. Your father was so young! Not fair, I say. Happy Birthday to your beloved dad.
ReplyDeletelovely to miss your father still after all this time. that sounds weird right, but I don't miss either of my parents.
ReplyDeleteI feel all of this so deeply darling. My father had the same birthday and I always feel his loss so deeply in October. Love, Rebecca
ReplyDeleteI, too, am happy that you can miss your Dad.
ReplyDeleteIt is a luxury to miss parents. Beautiful tribute.
ReplyDeleteI miss my parents and talk to them all the time!
ReplyDeleteThinking of you and your father and the love that remains as a presence. It is a joy to feel the presence of those who are no longer visible.
ReplyDelete(Hmmmm ... Although I thought I had already left a comment on this post, I'm guessing that I became distracted and forgot to send it. I've done that at other blogs lately.)
Oh my. My father had an October birthday and has been missing from this world about the same length of time. Also a man of integrity. I love this way of honouring.
ReplyDeleteHe IS with you still -- as memory, as love. Which is pretty significant!
ReplyDeleteI scrolled down to leave my comment and found Steve had put it into words better than I can :)
ReplyDeleteI believe we find things when we need them. I just found this. I needed it.
ReplyDelete