Post by flatline on May 10, 2010 17:45:20 GMT -5
.....and if you can't crawl, I'll carry you. (words from my father)
My father has spent the past two years fighting lung cancer, yet he recently lost. I was lucky enough to care for him during that time. I was lucky enough to be there and hold him when he took his last breath and I was lucky enough to be one of those that carried him the last few steps to that hole in the ground.
I was also lucky enough to say a few words at his grave, so here's a tribute to my father:
The relationship between a son and a father can, sometimes, be quite complicated. Ours was no different, it was powerful, emotional and can't really be put into words; but I can tell you that he had a profound impact on the life I live today and on the person I became. He probably had a profound impact on many of you, as well, because when I asked: "What do you admire about my father?" No one hesitated to give me an answer. Among those were:
** He understood what loyalty really meant. If you needed help, he'd come running.
** He lived with honor.
** He's the strongest man I know.
** He always put his family before himself, always.
** He always loved (we'll omit the name) and we all know that's not easy to do.
Here's my favorite....
** Your father was a hard man to dislike, plain and simple.
I'm not going to read you his biography because everyone here today knows him. Besides, you don't measure the life of a man by simple facts, simply told. A man's life is measured in the truths he discovered, and in the times he shed tears, in the bridges he burned, and the way that he died. In his years, my father learned much, rarely if ever cried, never burned a bridge, and he was a fighter all the way to the end.
He learned that you should fill your life with family and friends and he never seemed to have a shortage of either. He learned that you can never have too much laughter, music, stories and fun. He learned to be generous with himself, with his family and with his friends. My father didn't have much, but he shared what he had with just about anyone in need. He never spoke about these generosities, and he never expected anything in return. He was a man who knew what an honest day's work was and delivered it without complaint or failure -- ever. He learned to live life with optimism. He loved to laugh. He loved to please. He didn't have an unkind bone in his body. He filled his life with hope, even when there was little reason to hope.
He learned to live life, period.
My father enjoyed many things, and we all know he especially loved the outdoors. Many of us here have enjoyed fishing, hunting, walking woodlots and camping on riverbanks with him because he made it fun. He never passed up an opportunity to let me tag along and he always made it an adventure while teaching things along the way; always sit with the wind in your face, a "blood knot" is the strongest fishing knot you can tie and, most importantly, when the fish won't bite and the deer are miles away, it's okay just to sit and talk. He taught many of us that if you're on this earth, you better learn to have fun and (truth be told) he even enjoyed a little mischief, as well. Now, we'll never know, for sure, how the door on Granny's doll cabinet was broken; and there may be rumors about how those railroad flares ended up in that tree; but I know for a fact that the "ketchup on a rag trick" is timeless and works to this day.
Point being, he created fun and carried it with him every where.
I've only seen my Dad cry 3 times in all the years that I knew him.
I measure his life in the warehouse of photographs, memories and the stories we have shared along the way.
Today, we're here to share the loss of a good man. A man that was hard to dislike, plain and simple.
Sleep well, Old Man. I love you.....always have - always will.
My father has spent the past two years fighting lung cancer, yet he recently lost. I was lucky enough to care for him during that time. I was lucky enough to be there and hold him when he took his last breath and I was lucky enough to be one of those that carried him the last few steps to that hole in the ground.
I was also lucky enough to say a few words at his grave, so here's a tribute to my father:
The relationship between a son and a father can, sometimes, be quite complicated. Ours was no different, it was powerful, emotional and can't really be put into words; but I can tell you that he had a profound impact on the life I live today and on the person I became. He probably had a profound impact on many of you, as well, because when I asked: "What do you admire about my father?" No one hesitated to give me an answer. Among those were:
** He understood what loyalty really meant. If you needed help, he'd come running.
** He lived with honor.
** He's the strongest man I know.
** He always put his family before himself, always.
** He always loved (we'll omit the name) and we all know that's not easy to do.
Here's my favorite....
** Your father was a hard man to dislike, plain and simple.
I'm not going to read you his biography because everyone here today knows him. Besides, you don't measure the life of a man by simple facts, simply told. A man's life is measured in the truths he discovered, and in the times he shed tears, in the bridges he burned, and the way that he died. In his years, my father learned much, rarely if ever cried, never burned a bridge, and he was a fighter all the way to the end.
He learned that you should fill your life with family and friends and he never seemed to have a shortage of either. He learned that you can never have too much laughter, music, stories and fun. He learned to be generous with himself, with his family and with his friends. My father didn't have much, but he shared what he had with just about anyone in need. He never spoke about these generosities, and he never expected anything in return. He was a man who knew what an honest day's work was and delivered it without complaint or failure -- ever. He learned to live life with optimism. He loved to laugh. He loved to please. He didn't have an unkind bone in his body. He filled his life with hope, even when there was little reason to hope.
He learned to live life, period.
My father enjoyed many things, and we all know he especially loved the outdoors. Many of us here have enjoyed fishing, hunting, walking woodlots and camping on riverbanks with him because he made it fun. He never passed up an opportunity to let me tag along and he always made it an adventure while teaching things along the way; always sit with the wind in your face, a "blood knot" is the strongest fishing knot you can tie and, most importantly, when the fish won't bite and the deer are miles away, it's okay just to sit and talk. He taught many of us that if you're on this earth, you better learn to have fun and (truth be told) he even enjoyed a little mischief, as well. Now, we'll never know, for sure, how the door on Granny's doll cabinet was broken; and there may be rumors about how those railroad flares ended up in that tree; but I know for a fact that the "ketchup on a rag trick" is timeless and works to this day.
Point being, he created fun and carried it with him every where.
I've only seen my Dad cry 3 times in all the years that I knew him.
I measure his life in the warehouse of photographs, memories and the stories we have shared along the way.
Today, we're here to share the loss of a good man. A man that was hard to dislike, plain and simple.
Sleep well, Old Man. I love you.....always have - always will.
