Saying Goodbye...
The past 3 weeks have been a blur of teaching then waiting then crying and traveling. Now at last I am home again with my family and trying to prepare for Christmas. I didn’t blog during this time because I just didn’t know how to write my goodbye to my father. Then I got to speak at his memorial service and wrote this:
My earliest memories of my father were of him singing Scarlet Ribbons or the Lord’s Prayer to me before bed. I remember the sensation of being lifted WAY up into his arms or onto his shoulders for an eagle’s eye view of the world. Before Costco or Warehouse type shelving, we never lost Dad in a store because we could always see him over the aisles!
Car trips, especially the long ones to Connecticut were spent learning to sing in 4 part harmony or playing silly word games in a pre DS, DVD and iPod era. Everyone wanted to make sure that Dad didn’t fall asleep at the wheel, especially if he’d been out for a delivery the night before!
Dad was a dreamer and an adventurer... full of big ideas and infinite possibilities. This took him from Montreal to Hawaii to Tulsa... and each time there were new, deep friendships that formed.
Delivering babies was a kind of magic for Dad. He used to describe the sense of purpose and rightness that he felt each time he held a newborn in his big, gentle hands. When we were younger, I think we resented the fact that babies didn’t follow a 9-5 schedule. His beeper could go off at the movies, during your birthday party or even in the middle of church, yet as we grew to have dreams of our own to follow, we understood that a job can be a Calling.
Dad found love more than once in his life... and while it hurt as children to have him leave and move so far away, I know that in the end, our family just got bigger. Dad was loved by so many of you... Thank you for honouring his memory by being here today.
The last time that I saw Dad, he was still dreaming of possibilities... his smile was still gentle and his eyes still twinkled.
Dad taught all of us some important things- love with all your heart, grab sleep whenever you can, chase your dreams, do what you love, grow older but keep a childlike sense of wonder, try to just live your faith daily(leave being perfect up to God) and no matter what height you are... STAND TALL!
Goodbye Dad!
