Dear Dad
Posted: Tuesday, June 16, 2009
by Karen Braschuk
Dear Dad,
You have been gone for quite a while.
If you are looking down from the heavens, you are probably chuckling at how many times I have talked to your picture hanging on the wall.
I still need you Dad, no matter what dimension you may be in right now.
I still need your wisdom and strength. I still need you to set me straight about so many things. I need your guidance. Even though I am a grown person, I still need you to tell me the difference between right and wrong.
When I was a teenager, I put you through pure hell. Only a parent could understand that kind of hell. You must have wished that upon me so that I would finally get it because I surely finally 'got it' with my own son. Life has an amazing way of coming full circle, doesn't it?
You had your own problems. You were very shy and you had difficulty expressing yourself without being abrasive. But your love came shining through every step of the way. You had so much love to give and it must have been so frustrating for you not to be able to give it to your children in all situations.
Why is it only now that I recognize this? Why is it only now, long after you are gone, that I can recognize what you were trying to instill in me and thank you for it?
You left your mark on me, Dad. You taught me to always be true to myself and to never, ever compromise about the things that were important to me. You left your mark on me by teaching me that no matter how unpopular, a thought deserved respect. You taught me that having my own thoughts was a good thing. You taught me how to love myself.
Perhaps it takes a person who has had difficulty in their own life to teach another person how not to have that same difficulty.
Dad, you have kept me going through thick and thin long since you have passed. You never gave up...therefore, I will never give up. You never gave in...therefore I will never give in. You never complained, even as you were dying in your hospital bed. In fact, even as I visited you, you were always trying to share your wisdom and advice with me.
How can I ever pay homage to that kind of love?
All I can say is that I love you, Dad, and always will.
Karen
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Loved this. It is so very true. And maybe our kids will one day say the same thing.Thank you, Judy. :) I hope mine do too!
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