You were always there,
A calm, gentle presence
I would see you with Mother, arms around her,
a gentle rain to drown the raging tempests of her soul.

You would cheer me in my efforts, eyes dancing with laughter,    
sometimes turning grey when you were troubled.
I remember you watching me perform,
face radiant with joy,
your hand clutching Mother's, the grip so fierce I feared her fingers would shatter

I think the hardest thing for me was this;      
hearing what others said of you.
Yes, maybe it is true that you were an alien,      
stranger in a strange land, so to speak.
But evil? No, not to me.
To me, you were the one who was there for me
The one who wiped tears away,
who patched scraped knees or cut fingers.
But, now,
I am left alone to help put broken lives back together.            
 
I can still see your last day,
Mother standing at your bedside,
green eyes full of tears.

Sometimes,
in the lonely silence of my darkened bedroom,
I am awakened at midnight.
I feel a soft breeze against my face,   and think maybe, just maybe,
it's you gently stroking my cheek,
telling me you're still watching over me.

Dad, I miss you so.
But I will survive,
go on and make you proud,
seeing what I've made of my life.
Not just because it's what you would want,          
But also because of this,
to go on is the greatest thing I could do in your honor.    
One whose mere presence could make others stop what they were doing and stare.                      
I love you, Father. mtwks_girl@webtv.net

This is for all of those who have lost a parent.