My father passed away when I was in first grade. It changed my life dramatically. I think about how my life would be different had my father been alive to see me grow up. Have him give me guidance and teach me through his life experience. He was my hero, my role model, especially being so young. Parents can be the best heroes. There's always that feeling of what if? I don't know if that will ever go away. It's exactly the way it's meant to be. Everything happens for a reason.
My father's passing gave me a certain curiosity about the world. Curiosity has always been in my nature. My father's death gave me a different lens and filter to see the world through. What advice would my father give, as if he knew. This advice has guided me well. It's become my own advice at times.
What character traits do you keep from your parents? What character traits do you decide to discard? We all have flaws. It's interesting how when someone dies - that's when you hear how great they are. For a 1st grader standing in a funeral home trying to make sense of everything, it didn't matter whether he was great or flawed, I just wanted him back. I'd pretend as if I could make that wish come true. Flaws remind us of our own humanity. Life will never be the same again. This experience gives me an appreciation for life and those I love.
Why do we wait till someone dies to appreciate them? Don't wait to love. Don't wait to appreciate. Don't wait till tomorrow if it can be done today. Forgive them for not being perfect because you're not perfect either. People are doing the best they can with what they have.
You're not where you once were and that's ok. You must accept what you can't change. Move forward. Keep moving forward. I'm not that 1st grader any more. If I feel pain, is just pain of a memory, pain of something that never happened. Pain of growing up without a father. Some people have the pain of growing up with a father that never loved them or far worse situations. Stop living a pain that never was.
Remember the things that make you happiest.
My dad's poetry is something that brings me happiness. It's something I didn't discover until I was older. I enjoy reading it, thinking what he may have thought when he wrote it.
If you like it share it with someone who would enjoy hearing it. Thanks
Video of the poem
A Question Most Often Asked 1-7-1972
A question most often asked
Who are you and what are you going to be
I now answer easily
"I am me"
But you're no one
"I am happy and need no recognition"
But how can you be happy without recognition?
"By enjoying what I do"
"By just being me"
And this makes you happy
"Partly, but everything I do aides me"
"For helping others and sticking to my decisions"
But sometimes your decisions may hurt you
"It is better to hurt yourself knowingly"
"Than to hurt someone else fatally"
Your mind is confusing
"By mind may confuse others"
"Yet many people don't worry of the mind"
"So you try being understanding and compassionate"
"With this you never confuse yourself"
"And never become angered only when"
"You do not understand"
You're very contradicting
"But very real"
ERG
Cheers,
JG
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