For you Dad...

Dear Dad,


I miss you already. You slipped quietly away from us, from this earth, after a day that frustrated us all in our inability to keep you as comfortable as we would have liked. You were such a trooper, so strong and determined, you didn't want to leave us that day. It was the only day you spent in bed... ever.


But you waited. You waited for your son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughters to return home. And when they arrived it should not have surprised any of us, but you walked on your own accord to the living room, sat in a chair and for half an hour you made us all laugh. You wore your Twins shirt with pride that day, and teased your grandchildren while making plans to get Dairy Queen treats. Little did we know, less than 24 hours later, you'd be in your new heavenly home.


While you've left us physically, I still feel you everywhere. Your scent clings to your things in the bedroom in the apartment. We've filled the apartment with your beautiful wood work from dressers to desks. The scent of wood shavings and sawdust will forever remind me of you. Going to find your suit in the basement of your old house, was almost more than I could bear. But seeing the "chip clip" you used to hold the plastic together over your suit made me laugh, resourceful you at your best.


As much as you fought through your illness to stay with us, and refused to acknowledge your imminent passing, I have no doubt God blazed a trail for you right up to heaven. The sunset Monday night was a spectacular sight. I have never seen the whole horizon glow as golden and bright as it did that night, just hours before your passing.


Dad, I hope its okay... we picked pine wood for your final resting place... I know you never cared to work with pine because of how hard it was to rip through the knots with your saw. But it was rustic and sturdy, with an understated beauty, and it reminded me of something you may have made yourself.


I love you Dad...


I have always been proud to be "your little Snicklefritz..."



















Thanks to Rick, for being there for me and for capturing this sunset in all its glory...


As I sat writing this morning, this showed up in my email. Thank you Brian Andreas for giving me the perfect words to go forward from here...

StoryPeople... Story of the Day...


I carry you with me into the world,
into the smell of rain
& the words that dance between people
& for me, it will always be this way,
walking in the light,
remembering being alive together