6 Years: A Letter to My Dad

 
 (Harry S. Chandler and "Shrimp" Ebright, 1970)

Pops,

Six years ago...it was a Saturday, as well...I was hiking Syncline in the Gorge, thinking of you.
There were California Poppies growing, little waterfalls trickling down, and wide vistas of the river, cliffs, and hills.
You would have loved it.

Six years...how can it be that long already?  The last 5 years seem to have been sucked into a vacuum.

I think of you more this year.
I'm getting married, and it's a constant reminder of your absence.
But you'll be there, because a part of you is in all of us.

 (Harry S. Chandler, Fallen Leaf Lake, CA)

Beth gave me your pin for my birthday last year.  I had completely forgotten about it, and had to choke back tears, it brought up so much emotion.  
And this morning when I woke up, out of the blue I remembered the mug you had with seagulls on it.  It was your Earl Grey Tea mug, in my memory.
My best friend's mother in law, Barb, realized who you were and told me stories of being on the board of Tryon Creek Park together.
Each of these memories is a gift, whether tangible or not.

I'm so grateful to have had you as my father.
In all my actions I remember those inherent lessons we learned.  
Honesty.  Integrity.  Patience.

My Cowboy-Lawyer Father, I miss you every day.
Let's set another dream date.
Sushi, my treat.

And perhaps...perhaps we will see you somewhere at Tryon Creek Park today.

All My Love.

CONVERSATION

7 comments:

  1. He raised an amazing daughter, I know that much. Hugs to you, lady. What a beautiful, beautiful post. xo

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very nice Cat, It brought memories to me of My dad and who he was.

    Hang on tight to your precious memories. You will need the good ones as life goes on. Love you Betsy Boo

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a beautiful letter to your daddy - that first pic looks like it was a still taken right out of a Western!
    Thanks for the reminder that I need to take more "mental pictures" of moments with my dad :-)
    Jaime

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you, ladies! Your comments and thoughts mean a lot :) I had a great day, even though it started out rough. Having friends around definitely helps...especially when they know to ignore my sour moods and just stick to the plans!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love you girl.
    Glad to see you buoyed with hope and the peace of memories...xxx

    ReplyDelete
  6. This post makes my heart melt. It will be 9 years this summer that we lost my dad. I've been thinking of him more this year, and missing him, even more so than in years past. It's good to keep the beautiful memories alive. Peace to you!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Plume.... <3 <3 <3

    Sunny, doesn't it seem sometimes like the time has been sucked into a vacuum? As if between now and then, nothing really happened? So strange. Wishing you many memories!

    ReplyDelete

Back
to top