Dear Dad,
Remember when I crashed the car and you didn’t get angry? After you made sure that I wasn’t hurt, you laughed because the car was bent into a funny shape. “Cars are replaceable. People aren’t,” you told me, and I instantly learned a lesson about values.
That single incident shaped me more than you know. It shaped your grandchildren too because I adopted your parenting mantra: ‘Don’t cry over spilled milk.’
We quote you a lot, you know. Just the other day, when I was filling your medicine dispenser with the visiting nurse, I shared the sage advice that punctuated every task of my life, “Measure twice, cut once.” You had an expectation of perfection and attention to detail that served you well.
Your standards perpetuate through those who have had the benefit of learning from you. I don’t have the skills you had for building and fixing absolutely everything, but I try because you raised me to be capable and I still want to make you proud.
I suppose you were preparing me for the time when your own body declined to the point that you could no longer help me. You wanted to make sure that I could care for myself. Now I’m caring for you. I don’t blame you for resisting my help. To do otherwise would be an admission of defeat or loss, and that isn’t your style.
It hurts you, I know, to sit out of life and let others do the work you used to do. You want to feel useful and be productive. You want to contribute in the ways you did best. But the body has its own plan and yours is begging for mercy.
Somewhere deep down you know that you’re losing your battle with age and illness, but you’ll fight until the curtain closes and never concede to the wishes of those who love and serve you. I admire that tenacity (aka stubbornness) and recognize a bit of it in all your kin. It’s a signature of your culture and, perhaps, a result of your personal history.
Soon enough we’ll have to say goodbye. No matter how much I prepare for it, it will destroy me, at least for a while. How can it not? You were this girl’s hero.
I’ll try to be brave, Dad, like you taught me. “Show ’em what you’ve got,” you’d say, which always made me straighten up a little taller and believe in myself, because you believed in me.
I would claim to loathe the practice of sugar-coating life – of pretending, once someone is gone, that it was all sunshine and butterflies. But now that we’re nearing the end of our time together, I’m hard-pressed to care about the ugly parts. Somehow, the struggles seem to enhance the story, and I wouldn’t want to cut out one bit.
It’s okay to be afraid, Dad. I want to give you comfort and reassurance that all will be well. To let you know the ways in which you are unforgettable; how much your life has meant and will continue to mean.
Every time I see a fish tank, I recall a sweet memory of you pacing back and forth in front of it to calm sleepless babies. When I hear someone whistling, l remember how you always whistled while you worked and it makes me smile because no one whistles when they’re angry. And when I see someone in need, I ask myself how I can help, because that’s what you would do.
As a parent, I question if I’ve done enough for my kids. In case you wonder that too, Dad, put your mind at ease. You gave me everything you had to give, and it was more than enough.
Your life was modest but your legacy is immeasurable. The inheritance you left us consists of intangible wealth – a toolbox of resources to build a solid house atop the foundation you set.
Thank you, Dad, for being part of my life. I love you, and I always will.
Deb
Chaos & Clarity 