« Two different 20-something females called | Main | create your own visited »
January 20, 2004
Eulogy. When you learn that
Eulogy.
When you learn that a parent hasn't long to live, you begin to think of
things you wish you had done - asked more questions, discussed more,
argued less. Although I've always visited as much as possible, I've spent
a lot of time recently wishing I hadn't moved so far from home, and that
I'd spent more time with him the last few years.
But the more I've thought about it, the more I've realized that my father was part of the reason I could move away - he made me want to travel and to see new places. And then I realized that much of who I am is because of my dad. I'm interested in history because of him. I've learned to cook because Dad loved to cook. I'm a photographer because my dad bought me a 35mm camera the Christmas I was fifteen. I ride horses because my dad thought I'd gone too far by fashioning a saddle out of the back of the sofa and told my mom that they had to buy me a pony. I love the outdoors because he started me camping before I had my first birthday. My brother and I have four geography degrees between us - unquestionably Dad's influence. With Dad's encouragement (as well as my mother's, although she's always pretended to be outraged), we've always had more animals than is probably reasonable.
I'm going to miss more than I can say calling Dad with new recipes, to
tell him about a new place I've visited or a new history book I've read,
or to share the details of the weather - he loved the idea of a good storm
more than anyone I've ever known. I hate that if I have the good fortune
of a family of my own one day that Dad won't be here to share it. I am
grateful, however, that I got to have him in my life for the thirty-three
plus years that I did.
Dad cared little for sentimental gestures, so I'll stop. But I'll continue
to travel, to read, to take pictures, to ride horses, to have an
admittedly strange fascination with natural disasters, and to probably
always have more animals than is reasonable.
Posted by Kristin at January 20, 2004 7:00 PM