Adios

Orchid Galore, Louis Ginter Botanical Gardens.  Copyright 2012: singeronthesand

Listen with respect to the father who raised you...

Proverbs 23:22

Right about now my daughters are preparing for their grandfather's memorial service out in Arizona.  Dad's son - my ex - will give the eulogy, and my middle daughter will sing to the memory of her paternal granddad.  I have spoken at length over the last 24 hours with my kids and my ex - remembering experiences and sharing grief as we all work through the process of loss.  I am very pleased that my children are there; they have not seen their three aunts and four cousins for almost ten years.  They have worked through the initial awkwardness, and are gently exploring memories and forging new paths of friendship.

I have spent a gentle afternoon with my many memories of my father-in-law.  Dad was always a very accepting, very loving man toward the wife of his son.  Mom was anything but that, so Dad always acted as a buffer to try and shield me from her harsh, controlling ways.  He loved to sit and chat - about the kids, about life, about the latest books we were reading.  He did not judge me - the real me, and was always forgiving of my foibles.  

One of the things that I loved about Dad was the fact that early on he realized that he needed to have an excellent command of the English language in order to function in the culture and work-a-day world of Arizona.  When he was younger, he was a waiter at a prestigious hotel in Phoenix, and once served President Kennedy, who gave him silver dollars as a tip - coins that he cherished his entire life.  Unlike his wife, he did not expect the world to cater to the Spanish language of his birth. When three of his four children married non-Hispanic partners, Dad was immediately capable of conversing not only with the spouses, but with the grandchildren that followed.  

I write this entry today in honor of my father-in-law - a sweet, gentle man with a heart of gold.  We will miss you, my friend.

Adios papá.  que tienen nuestros

corazones y el amor.

~Sherrie & the girls