I LISTENED TO MY DAD TODAY

The photo is of me, not my father. He would be 99 very soon if he was still here. He influenced me over the years, and he did again today.

I LISTENED TO MY DAD AGAIN TODAY - My father and mother are both gone from us. Mom died in November 2007 and Dad in May 2008 six months apart. They were sweethearts, married for 66 years. Our family enjoyed the way the two of them enjoyed each other and cherished one another. The evening before her funeral, when the extended family was together, we all stood by her coffin and dad broke us all by saying, “goodnight sweetheart, I’ll see you soon.” When dad died and we siblings went through what was left, inside his wallet was a small piece of paper bearing a poem. “She was not created from his head to top him. Nor from his feet to be stepped on. She was made from his side to be equal to him. From beneath his arm to be protected by him. Near his heart to be loved by him.”