My First Without Dad

It wasn't as bad as I imagined. Still, it was hard.

somethng I wrote ...

We followed you

When we were young,
We would follow you around the house
We would go from room to room,
Crawling or toddling, as children do
We didn’t know where you were going,
Or where the journey would end
We simply knew,
We wanted to follow you

We were scattered severally
Across a ten year span
So, while some crawled, some walked
But each of us, in our own way
Followed you

You never really acknowledged
That you knew how closely we watched
Or how hard we tried to follow
But I am sure you knew
And you led, and we followed

Some of us, or just one of us
So bold in our teenage rebellion
Promised we would never walk your paths
We would blaze our own trails
In opposite or perhaps obstinate directions
Not realizing that in doing so
We were following you

You taught us to travel
And follow our own courses
You gave us more than you ever had
You didn’t change our diapers
Or feed us our meals
While some doctor of figuring out reasons
Would have a field day with those
Still we never doubted your love
And still, we followed you

A while back
You stepped through a door
And we could follow you no more
At least not for a long while
But, you left a trail
A pattern if you will
A shining example

While we cannot follow you as closely
As when we crawled behind your heels
We can still follow you
We can follow your example
We can follow your life
Which you lived fully and openly
We can follow your words
Which you shared without hesitation
We can follow your heart
Which you gave without reservation
We can follow your faith
Which was manifest in everything you did

You lived right
You left too soon

I hope
When my day comes
I have the same faith
I have the same course
I hope
I have followed as you followed

I hope
We have followed you

Ron
December 22, 2007