All That is Left
You are there, so close in my thoughts,
I feel I can reach out and touch you.
But I know if I do, there will be nothing.
How sad, and yet so sweet-
To have you there in my thoughts.
It seems like yesterday, the memories so clear.
Your eyes, your smile, your voice, all still real.
Our laughter bubbling on-
The sound is like music, a song.
It is all so clear.
If I close my eyes, the picture is dear,
Your arms open, beckoning to me.
I want to run to you
I want to feel those arms holding me close.
Within my mind, you are still so dear.
These memories, this is all that is left for me.
You are gone, never to return.
I will go on living, day to day,
Remembering - smiling - longing.
I love you, but that is all that is left for me.
For my late husband, Don
A veteran of WW II and Korea
You are missed, Da. Rest in peace, and thank you.
-Lis
May 25, 2009 3:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks so much for your sweet words, Lis - you have always spoken so highly of you step-da and it means a great deal to me.
May 25, 2009 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Do we all get to have you for a surrogate Mum?
May 25, 2009 5:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Fine with me - I share the things I love with others ;)
Nice to have you in the family, Thera - does this make us sisters now?
May 25, 2009 5:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, goody!
Yes, yes. Now we're sisters.
I'm also an honorary native American, thanks to flowerchild. Probably we all are by now.
Just so we get our family history straight!
May 25, 2009 5:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
:o)
May 25, 2009 9:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh TheraP - i am honored that you would like to have me as a surrogate mother. Your creative and wonderfully written blogs have made me think about so many areas in my confused political life. Through you and others at TPM, I am finally arriving at a conclusion that I can be a free thinker and let go of the family tradition of being ultra conservatives. Thanks for your support in my first endeavors.
May 25, 2009 7:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lovely tribute, Maggie.
May 25, 2009 3:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks Bwak - you are a dear friend to me and your comment is higly regarded.
May 25, 2009 4:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
~sniff~ You choked me up.
May 25, 2009 4:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have such fond memories of Don but it is always sad on a day as Memorial Day. So many just think of it as a bbq day and forget about the armed forces who gave their lives for our country.
May 25, 2009 5:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
A tear is shed Maggie...
May 25, 2009 4:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shedding a tear means you care - thanks DD.
May 25, 2009 5:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
From someone who has his father's WW I Victory Medal to this day, thanks...
May 25, 2009 5:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
And thank you to your father.
May 25, 2009 5:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
How wonderful that you have your father's WW I Victory Medal and I am sure you are very proud of that. Just think of how he would feel that he is so well remembered. Thanks to him and all of the veterans of too many wars.
May 25, 2009 7:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Beautiful poetry. I can see the literary ability has been handed down. :)
May 25, 2009 5:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
It is beautiful poetry Maggie. In gentle tribute:
The love in your heart layed out in verse
like soft flower petals upon the memory of him so dear,even still,even still
The sweet fragrance of the offering rises to reach us,and received softens the heart cloud
Unburdening and sprinkling refreshing tears
May 25, 2009 6:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
That is so gently lovely, DonDi.
I remember Da's wake just barely, it was a horrendous time. But I'll never forget, after the graveside service at the end of that long day, how, as all of us started to disperse, my nieces and nephews all gravitated to each other and formed a wordless group hug next to Da's grave. My sister Jeanne and I were so touched and heartbroken, we gathered around them and reached our arms around them and bowed our heads too.
That moment will stay with me forever.
May 25, 2009 7:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh DonDi - what meaningful words you have written -I feel honored that you have shared them with me. You have a beautiful heart and soul.
May 25, 2009 7:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
In one of my very glum periods long ago I wrote a song. One of the lines has come to represent an enduring truth to me was "Remember me by the love I leave behind." I think that the love, the memories, are the true testament to a person's life when all is said and done. That part is timeless, and your poem speaks of it beautifully.
May 25, 2009 8:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh Rowan - you understood so perfectly what was in my heart. I have so many wonderful memories of Don and I cherish them. He had a long and difficult illness before he passed and at first I dwelled on that but now I look back and see only his smile, his humor, his Irishness (is that a word?) and his love for me. Most important is the love that was in my heart and still is.
May 25, 2009 8:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, sometimes it is difficult to get past the immediacy and context of a loss. Sometimes there is even great anger. However, as hearts heal, it is the love that is left that forms the enduring connection throughout our days.
I believe if we all thought a bit more about the pieces of us that are left in the hearts of others, we might live our lives a bit differently. However, we live in a death-phobic society, and too few do.
This is one reason why the public sharing of that love, as you have done here, is so important. It nudges people into connection and understanding.
Thank you MaggieMum.
May 25, 2009 9:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Aw, Maggie Two Shells. *sniff* Makin' me cry and stuff. I love love.
May 25, 2009 9:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6XZsau7CSk
May 25, 2009 10:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maggie Two Shells, you are priceless. Truly.
Are there more members of your family that we need to convert?
Just wonderin'.
Seashell
May 25, 2009 10:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
*Willie and Wallace hand the driving puppy directions to PA & NY*
May 25, 2009 10:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
SeaShell - most of my family are conservatives so there would be a massive conversion party!!
May 25, 2009 10:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hmmm. I needz reinforcementz. Where iz dat Murray and Pug and all the other puppiez on here? We gotz woik to do!
May 25, 2009 11:03 PM | Reply | Permalink