Hey Dad,
It has been a long time since we have talked,
You telling me stories when to the barn we walked.
You would tell me when you was a little kid.
You would tell me about the many things you did.
You would tell me about the trouble you had done.
You would tell me how to face it and never run.
You told me about how rough it was on you.
You told me about working to help your parents too.
You told me how you had to quit school.
You told me about milking the cows from a stool.
You taught me what was right and wrong.
You taught me how to hum your favorite song.
You taught me that life would never be fair.
You taught me to always to understand and care.
You showed me how to labor and work all day.
You showed me a full day's work was worth its pay.
You showed me about farming and about the dirt.
You showed me even a little scratch will hurt.
You took me to places I never would have been.
You took me to some of them time and time again.
You took me to places that we all could eat.
You took me to places that were really neat.
You made a boy grow and made a man of me.
You made me try and for good things always see.
You made me see and feel what others felt.
You made me see what bad things others were dealt.
You were going to take life easy one day.
You were going to go to the lake and stay.
You were going to retire and now have fun.
You were going to leave the business to your son.
You were given a deep, hurting pain in your chest.
You were given a doctor, the hospital's best.
You were given the very best of medical care.
You were given a sentence of life, in a wheelchair.
You have left me to face this thing called life.
You have left me to learn of sorrow and strife.
You have left me to make decisions on my own.
You have left me because now I am grown.
You are with me in all these things to be known.
You are with me because things I have been shown.
You are with me in the the things I do.
You are with me for I am a part of you.
Dad, I never told you how much you meant to me.
Dad, I never told you how like you I wanted to be.
Dad, I never told you how much I really loved you.
Dad, I never told you how much I missed you.
Dad, I miss our little private walks.
Dad, I miss our little private talks.
Dad, I miss our time together that we spent.
Dad, I miss our time no matter where we went.
I know you hear me down here below.
I know you are with me where ever I go.
I know you would be here if you still could.
I know you would be here as a Dad should.
Today is a day when I wish you were here.
Today is a day when you could wipe away my tear.
Today is a day when you would hear, "I miss you".
Today is a day when you would hear, "I love you".
I had to talk to you this morning and tell you this,
I had to tell you I love you and you I really miss.
I had to tell you I wish you was here with me.
I had to tell you, my Dad you will always be.
Dad, I miss you and love you and always will.
Your youngest son,
Jim
I am walking down a dark and lonely road.
I carry on my shoulders a heavy load.
My load is full of hurt, of grief, and of pain,
And on my body it creates a lot of strain.
I look for help to take it all away.
No one is here, they have turned away.
A friend to me, they used to be.
Now with this trouble, they know not of me.
When everything was good and doing okay,
They always had something to me to say.
I never even once turned my back on you,
Something a true friend would never do.
We went places and did all kinds of things,
We went camping, fishing, and even on hikings.
Was I so different yesterday as I am today?
I am older and my hair is a little gray.
I am still the same as I was long ago.
I still like doing things, but I am a little slow.
Why would you turn your back on me?
I would have stood by you for all eternity.
Someone has told you something wrong.
And with their lies, you went along.
I now walk this narrow and dark road all alone.
One day you will see the truth, after I am gone.
I tried to be the best friend to you I knew how,
I made a mistake somewhere and I will pay for it now.
The past can never be changed or even altered.
Whether what we did was right or if we faultered.
I have to keep going alone and looking to the tomorrow,
And carry with me, all of my life, all of this sorrow.
I will carry it with me forever and a day,
Because my friend has left me and gone away.
Nevermore around me will they be,
Because with their eyes, the truth, they could not see.
There are many kinds of love this I know.
There are some kinds of love that you can not show.
I can not define the meaning of love or even friend.
I do know, they were supposed to be until time's end.
I know to me, you my friend will always be,
And a day will come when at last you will see.
I will continue on down this lonely old road,
Carrying the burdens of my heavy load.
I will look for the day my burden will be taken away.
It will be when death takes my last breath that one day.
So until that time, down this road alone I will go,
Carrying my load of pain, hurt, loneliness, and sorrow.
I had hoped our friendship was forever, but I found out this was not to be. I hope, if you have a true friend, then forever true to them you will be.
Life has a lot of curve balls at us to throw,
Being good to us or bad we do not know.
It may be a strike or even a ball,
But in the end, it is not our call.
When we swing and hit the ball,
We can say, we gave it our all.
Or at that ball, we can swing and miss.
Life is full of strikes like this.
The pitching count is always full.
This is the game's number one rule!
You have one pitch to make it a go.
So hit it hard and make the count, 1 and 0!
My Dad had a stoke the week before he was going to retire. It left him where he could not walk or talk. He lived like this for four years. He had everything a person could want and anything that money could buy, all but his health. He finally gave up after his fifth heart attack and he told my Mom, through his way of communicating, that he was ready to go on. I went to see him every day that I could, but I did not go to see him that last night, thinking everything was all right and I would see him tomorrow. I made one of the biggest mistakes of my life by not going there to see him that night he passed away. I did not make it to the hospital in time to see him that one last time until after he was gone. It can not be changed, but it will always be a hurt inside of me being I did not go, that one time, that one night.
I never realized how much my Dad had taught me through all of the years and how much I relied upon him until after he was gone. I wonder how much more I would have learned if he would have gotten to stay a little longer with me.
Love your parents while you still have them. Tell them that you love and appreciate what they do for you. If there is any anger between you, settle it, for there will come a time when you will regret your differences whether you were right or wrong.