Wednesday, October 20, 2021

Absence is a house so vast

 
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?
 
 

14 comments:

  1. 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.

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  2. You 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.

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  3. Love 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.

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  4. It 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.

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  5. lovely to miss your father still after all this time. that sounds weird right, but I don't miss either of my parents.

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  6. I 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

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  7. I, too, am happy that you can miss your Dad.

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  8. It is a luxury to miss parents. Beautiful tribute.

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  9. I miss my parents and talk to them all the time!

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  10. Thinking 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.

    (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.)

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  11. 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.

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  12. He IS with you still -- as memory, as love. Which is pretty significant!

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  13. I scrolled down to leave my comment and found Steve had put it into words better than I can :)

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  14. I believe we find things when we need them. I just found this. I needed it.

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