Today was dad's memorial. I was overwhelmed when I looked up from the podium and saw the over crowded sanctuary. My dad was truly a wonderful and much loved man. At the reception I was asked to publish my eulogy. The BrownStone Chinooks blog was intended to be about my life with my wonderful Chinooks. I apologize for the change in venue, but then maybe through my post many more can meet my special Daddy-do.
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| Daddy-do inspired me to revel in challenges |
I shed tears that Daddy-do is gone and smile because he lived.
I think about how much I miss Dad, I cay and start to feel sorry for myself, but then I think about all the people who never got the chance to meet him and I start to feel sorry for them.
I close my eyes and wish that Pop-O would come back then I open my eyes and see all he's left.
My heart is empty because I can't see dad and yet full of the love we shared.
Daddy-do was the one who was, without question, always there.
He carried us when we could go no further.
Dad inspired us and loved us for what we became.
Pop-O was the one who loved us for who we were - all that we were.
Dad taught me how to be at home in the out-of-doors and reverence for Nature.
Dad was the one who guided us, even when he was lost.
He was the one who lead the way to ensure the path was safe.
Daddy-do was the epitome of self-reliance. He could build anything and fix anything. When we needed a place to play during rainy days, he grabbed a shovel and dug a basement. I was less than a year old when we moved to Oregon. He solved the diaper problem with a covered bucket suspended by a spring. It bounced along outside the car as we traveled across the US on pre-highway roads. He invented a one-girl teeter-totter. He engineered and built the Starr heart valve - a prototype for the one in his great grand daughter's heart. I am sure almost everyone in this room has a story about Mr Fix-it.
Daddy-do taught us that there is more than one way to solve a problem and to revel in the challenge. I attribute my can-do independence to his life examples.
Dad was the one whose hands held ours to comfort us.
Pop-O was the one who held us all together through good and bad.
I can turn my back on tomorrow and live in yesterday or be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
I can cry and close my mind, be empty and turn my back, or I can do what he'd want: smile - open my eyes - love - and go on.
Pop-O was the one whose heart was tender, whose spirit was loving and kind.
Daddy-do was the one whose hands were calloused from work, whose touch was soft and gentle. These were the hands that I held to comfort him in his last hours.
Pop-O I love you. You will always be part of my soul. I could remember you only that you are gone but I choose to cherish your memory and help it live on.