A special "Dad" message

Please take a moment and go to PeaceBang's site and read her wonderful Father's Day tribute to her Dad.

If your is here, I hope told him how much he means to you.


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Palm Sunday

As my brother so aptly announced this morning on Facebook, "Hosanna!" To which I replied, "In the Highest!"

Palm Sunday, the day that celebrates Jesus' arrived in Jerusalem in the week before his death. Holy Week... Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter. Today commemorates the spreading of palms and clothing in Jesus' path as He entered Jerusalem prior to His crucifixion.

I'm not much of a church goer. I have my own version of faith in my head and in my heart. I'm comfortable with what I feel, what moves me, and what keeps me going. I love the Easter season, the message and the music, and the feeling of hope it gives me.

My father quoted a bible verse when I tested his answers to questions I'd ask. It was always a simple exchange. I'd ask when the rain would stop, or whether he thought the Red Sox would beat the Yankees. Whatever... it never anything life threatening. He'd answer, and I'd ask "Really?" or "Are you sure?" And he would reply, "If it were not so I would have told you."

That expression comes from Jesus, during the Last Supper, telling his disciples that he was going before them to prepare a place for them in Heaven. "In my father's house there are many rooms. If it were not so I would have told you." (There are many variations, depends on which version of The Bible you read, but you get the idea.)

From the religious point of view, this is my favorite time of the year. Charlton Heston (who shares my birthday...) stars in the classic "The Ten Commandments," and it will be on television sometime this week. It's a fabulous (if not long) movie... he bickers with Yul Brenner (the nasty Rameses II), denies Ann Baxter (as that trashy Egyptian princess Nefertiri), parts the waters, delivers God's rules, and looks amazing strutting around in chains.

Enjoy Holy Week, in whatever fashion it moves you. Maybe it's just another string of days linked by weekends. Maybe you'll spend time in thought or prayer.

I will spend a little time in wonder about whether my father's new dwelling place really has many rooms and if in fact he has gone ahead to prepare one for me. He didn't say as much before he left, but I'm going to hedge that he did. Indeed.

After all, if it were not so, he'd have told me.

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My Dad

My dad died 14 years ago today and, as chance would have it, at just about this time of day.

I've missed him terribly through the years. He missed a lot of wonderful moments in our lives (the adventures, the accomplishments, watching his granddaughter grow into a beautiful young woman) and missed some moments that I'm frankly glad to know he wasn't around to witness (my breast cancer is the first thing that comes to mind).

Whatever. Good moments or bad, we can't have him back.

One of the hardest things about losing him was that point in time when it became normal that he was no longer here. That moment was a shock and it hurt almost as much as losing him.

So, I'm thinking about him today, as I do most days. I still miss him and I'd have liked nothing more today than to have laughed with him over something. I'll just go ahead an laugh and pretend he's laughing with me.

Here's a photo of me and my dad, taken in about 1990 at the farm in Nobleboro, ME. It's one of my very favorites because of the look on his face. That look told me that he loved me and it was enough for me just to see it.


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