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Brothers & Sister


I can't come to the end of this month and not remember my Dad. His birthday always arrived on the 28th of the month. I remember the fun I had with him on his last one of 92 years. I had purposely searched for new casual shirts for him that he could button up the front. The pull-over-polo-like shirts had become more of a bother for him and difficult to put over his head. He needed something simpler. So he beamed when he opened up the bag of brand new shirts I brought him. I made him model each one and he happily obliged as I snapped away with my camera, capturing his playful mood. There was no one like my Daddio . . .

It's hard to believe, even though it has already been four years, that those days are just memories. Many a day, I have wished to have one more conversation with my Dad. I think that's why I find myself attending a small traditional church service in which old hymns are sung for that is where I hear my Dad still singing in my ear.

But I also hear my Dad in the voices of my brothers. You never know how death is going to impact relationships, especially when it seems that our parents have always been the glue that has kept us somewhat together throughout the years. As brothers and sister, we usually have been apart, not just in years, but in life adventures, and never lived by one another. Yet with the passing of my Father, I have found my brothers much more available to me and reaching out when I have been in need. In fact, one was able to come and live right in my own neighborhood. So perhaps Dad's voice still lives on. . .

Daddio loved his family and was never shy in making that statement known, and somehow I have a hunch that he would be especially pleased that on this his birthday eve that we, as brothers and sister, have even kept the family ties much closer. . .

Comments

  1. JazzedJuly 31, 2011 at 1:09 AM

    Indeed, he would be pleased and I can see that big grin sweeping across his face, just knowing his kids were together! What a marvelous gift we were given - the gift of time to renew friendships and pray for one another.

    ReplyDelete

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