I miss you
sadness ever
enveloped your heart
though drown it
you verily tried
regardless
you were
good, kind
caring, loving -
an instinct
the latter
for you
experienced it
never
before
giving your
heart
to be
broken
over
and
over
till gaining
the unconditional love
of a daughter;
when you passed
and your wife gave me
the album
of pictures
you'd lovingly saved,
tucked inside -
how i cried -
were
myriad birthday
and
Father's Day cards
I'd sent
that you
kept them
meant,
I hope,
you knew
you were loved
even if
it wasn't
enough
to keep you
from drowning
your sorrows
till neither
love
nor sadness
mattered.
Now 30 years
gone,
I wish
I'd had
more years
to know you
better
to love you
longer.
I
miss
you.
❤️So Many Hugs & Kisses!!❤️
For all the
bewilderment
and wonder
you reflect
back to our
Beloved Boy
as the
Son
at the
center
of your
sense
of I
Handprints
entwined
with
the Heart
and the Music
of your Life
in me...
the awe
and disbelief
at the incredible
Blessing of this
shining fragment
of Us
that stands
with arms
outstretched
and whispers
fiercely
eyes clamped shut
mouth puckered up,
"I Love You Papa!"
For Papa Bunny Villaire
Rémy & I love you so very very much!!
Pine Tree
You stood tall on the hill
Branches swaying in the wind
Watching me as I turned from a seed into a sprout
From a sprout to a seedling
From a seedling into a sapling.
As a sapling I was tall and lanky
Stealing your sunlight
And yet you stood there and watched
Let me be
You did not complain.
Then I turned into a tree
And your branches tipped to me.
You stood by my side
Even as the pine bug took you.
You did not get to watch
As a seed took flight from my branches
As it landed and rooted
And started sprouting.
Your roots are still there and will forever remain.
Thank you.
( Dear Sir )
I picture the neck,
with collar and tie,
the squared shoulders
in proud carriage,
conviction and
courage...
The sparks
in Artic
eyes...
He knew me
not just as
a child;
and loved me
like no
other
Kin,
because
only I could
stand his
Criticisms,
without anger.
Yes, i cried;
and what
Man
can handle
hot water
between his
hands..?!
...it always
comes down
to the facts:
He was a
(com)passionate
one...
who kept
his i-love-you-s
in notebooks
of plans.
On every page
the names
of Us...
carved
with
sharpness
of tongue
to remind,
only how!
We should
know-better,
by Now...
wrapped up
in a hug.
In other words,
in dimmed hopes
and espressos,
in Dreams...
night walks,
and cigarette
smoke,
that he
blew...
in rings
as halos
for our
Magic...
of Being.
Dear Father challenge @EvolucijaSvesti
06.18.2023
Art
You have a stern shell
But those close to you can always tell
That you have a huge heart
Some would even call you a piece of art
Dear dad,
Happy fathers day! I know we haven't been on the same page lately, but I want you to know how much I appreciate you. You took my siblings and I in. You dealt with our breakdowns and screams of pain with love and love only. Love was a foreign concept for us then, but you gained our trust and opened our hearts. You witnessed my struggles firsthand, and you guided me on how to cope with them. I know you will never cease to love me, regardless of how many times we fight, so I need you to know that it's mutual. I will love you regardless of what is thrown at us. Because dad, you are worth it. My family, is worth it.
Love,
Kendall
Dear Daddy,
I want to thank you for being such an amazing father to me. You lost your own Father when you were just 2. You were blessed with a strong father figure in your maternal grandfather. He would have been proud of all you accomplished.
You were always so loving with me. You truly spoiled me rotten. I know being the youngest or as y'all affectionally called me "the happy surprise" isn't such a bad gig. We had a close relationship that I was truly grateful for - I hope you know growing up with you as my Dad was pretty amazing.
Playing recess on your former high school football field was awesome...after listening to stories of you being the star High School QB - I was so proud running around on that same ground. You left High School and joined the Army. After serving in WW2 - "The Big One", you worked so hard in the oilfields under that hot Texas sun where you started out as a roustabout....which meant low entry and hard work. You worked your way up from that position to "Company man" which translated to obtaining new clients and checking in with existing clients. I love that over a few cold ones that you decided instead of making money for someone else you could do it for yourself.
I remember you worked so hard to establish an oil field trucking, contracting and sandblasting company. I had no clue what sandblasting was....when employees couldn't handle the heat and would pass out doing the work in a hot water tower or grain tower you would go in and do it yourself. I can remember how drained you were. How on earth did you do that in that crazy heat? You worked very hard and became very successful and well known for what you did, but what you did wasn't who you were....you were a good person. You were so hilarious. You had the best sense of humor....you made people laugh and feel good. I know you had such a generous nature if you heard of someone in need you made sure it was taken care of....instead of just advancing a salary to someone who was struggling you lent a helping hand. You knew - you had been there. People respected you....your reputation of fairness and being someone decent to work for was well known and that just says a lot about your character.
I want to thank you for instilling within me a love for our Texas and respecting our precious land and all that inhabited it. You taught me how to hunt and fish responsibly. You taught me how to garden, which was such a gift...there's nothing like growing your own vegetables. Just so many things you blessed me with by being you.
I want to thank you for loving me through both my good and poor choices. You loved me unwaveringly. I am so sorry if I ever caused you a moment of pain. You taught me so much. Daddy, I miss you and I love you.
Father’s Footsteps
I think you were proudest of me when you saw me boxing.
I remember that day pretty clearly. You showed up to watch, not saying a word. I sparred with a guy about my size, but a little shorter. We were a good match up, honestly.
He slammed me with an uppercut that rocketed through my guard and sent me back a step. A smaller guy would likely have been knocked off his feet.
It was exhilarating; the crowd gasped.
I couldn't help but laugh, it was the most fun I'd had with my clothes on all week. I was genuinely elated.
I think it worried the kid that I laughed when he punched the shit out of me.
I think that's what made you proud.
When the round ended, we were both bleeding and gasping for air. In the end, it was declared a draw, if it had been an actual match and not a spar. It didn't really matter who won, what mattered was that we were learning an important skill.
Those formative afternoons with those other young men and that generous coach who invited us to his back yard, those were the building blocks of a career for me. No, I didn't become a professional fighter, but I became a professional unafraid to fight.
You and I both built careers around that philosophy.
When I was just a little kid, you used to instruct defensive tactics at the same academy I attended the year you died.
So many of my instructors asked how you were doing. You hadn't worn the uniform in over twenty years, but they knew my last name.
"He's well, I assume," I said with good humor, waiting for their inevitable follow up question. "He died back in February, so I hope everything turned out in his favor after that setback."
A couple of them thought it was the funniest shit they'd heard, but more than one looked at me like I had three heads.
I think you were proudest of me when you saw me boxing, but I like to think that maybe you'd have been proud to see me build a career teaching where you once taught.
Mon père.
Dear father of mine,
This is a letter you will never receive. I don't plan to plan it, I'll just let things flow which means there will be some salt with the sugar, of course. You don't need to see that part.
You and I have had a disconnect between us for many years, haven't we? I suppose it was bound to happen. Not very good with vulnerability, practically nothing in common, a bit self-isolating. I'd say not having you be too present in my life made me lose a lot but well, I only know who I've grown to become as I am now.
I know you tried, though. I know you try. I don't know you well, sir but I know that the only reason you pushed me so hard was a desperation to see me succeed. I know you grew up in the village in a time when you had to fight for your knowledge, you tell me how you had to hawk with pride in your eyes. You've done so much in your life. Began and ran a successful law firm for so many years, married, had us...
The quintessential family man. It's through the sweat of you and my mother that my siblings and I have the space to live without the weight of searching for money as you did in your youth hanging over our heads quite yet. But being a provider, as necessary as it may be, caused this chasm between us. One I thought would fill if I was finally good enough for you to garner your praise, your fleeting flutters of affection. I was terrified of you but I wanted you to love me, I really did.
And so, it began. The academic version of rat race. Try to be the best, as your father was. You even turned my twin and I against each other... Do you remember that? I don't think you knew but it taught us to hate each other for some time, that giant wedge of competition you drove between us. Not that it matters anymore. We both grew up and learnt certain things weren't as important as we thought they were.
I suppose you gave me more attention when I was little enough to be interesting and the slightly older me of then wanted some of it back. I don't know. All I know is that desire to please enough to be loved, although you didn't mean to help such a lesson weasel its way into my head, is still there today. And you aren't very good at encouraging it to end, either. You like when we do things to please you. I suppose everybody does. I only wish you had shown me that I deserved attention even when it wasn't because of a report card.
But I'm older now. We both are. You aren't as self-isolating or as distant or as suddenly aggressive. You're... Different and yet the same. I suppose that comes with growing up? And you're my father. I don't blame you for any piece of who I've been and am, anymore. I chose every step I've ever taken for my sake and safety. You not loving me enough wasn't the root of all my problems these past years.
It was me not knowing how to love myself. I was never really taught so I had to learn, you see. Build myself up brick by brick. In a way, I'm coming into my own. I don't think I could ever be as confident as you or mama but... I'm growing, still. You've had thrice my time of experience to ebb and flow and change.
Daddy... Try to be kind. I know you're trying harder now but... Don't stop getting better at it. Your wife never deserved those jagged sides of you. And neither do any of your children. I've learnt not to miss you when you're not around. But I can tell you what parts of you I miss the most when I haven't witnessed them for long enough.
Your laugh. That terrifying explosion of yours that appears at the most sudden moments. I love it so much. And your excitement when you watch football. It's ridiculous to me, the way you clap over a man attempting to kick a ball into a limited space. But it's amusing hearing you clap for people who don't hear you. I suppose middle-aged men deserve to fanboy, too. Your terrible (probably on purpose) singing, your love for garri, the way you seem to glow when you're with friends or "discussing" politics, despite your constant adamance that you are right and can never be wrong.
Shit. I got that from you too, didn't I?
It's weird, the way you are now. You started trying some years back but I'm still not used to it. The attempts to establish reconnect when there was once an empty, grey space. The little, sudden words of genuine kindness that confuse the hell out of me. Playing the provider role, the only one you really know how to play and buying the family food on every single special occasion haha.
I'm trying, too. I hug you once in a while. I never used to do that but hey, life is "short", right? I remember the day I called you on the phone, a breakdown too strong to handle alone for once. You were the last person I chose to call, no one else picked up but with all your panicking and trying to call my mother to deal with my panicking in your stead, it all made me laugh. The ridiculousness of everything. So thank you for that, you awkward awkward weirdo.
My grudge with you died the moment I realised my choices were mine regardless of your influence. Always my own. But even in the painful times, I know I have a fondness for you. I might hang out with you the least but family you are still and I'll never not remember you. Or feel some sort of affection for you, no matter what goes down between us in the future. Here's to many more fights and awkward moments to come.
Okay. That's that. Slow down with work and take care of yourself, please. You're the overachieving type, a trait I tried to copy for so long... Don't push yourself too hard. Stay a while with me before it's time to rest, alright? And I hope you're happy and proud of all you've done with your life. Because I'm happy for and proud of you, pop. Have a good evening.
Dear Dad.... Thank you
Dear Dad,
Today is Father's Day and of course I could not let the day go by without saying thank you. Thank you for all you have done for me. You taught me to appreciate the people that love me and stand by by my side. You taught me how to stay strong during difficult times. You taught me that family consists of those who love me, not those who are related to me. You taught me that how to stay strong and make sure that I come out on top. The day you left me to start a new life, you taught me more than you will ever know. Happy Father's Day.
Thank You