Writer’s Block //Life is Too Short No Matter What and Yet It Is Beautiful!

I just came back from a wake held for the father of our pastor, who passed away last week. This individual was just a few years younger than my father, 89. My father, who passed away last August was 91.

My initial reason for attending this wake was to honor the life of the father of my pastor, who came to visit my father a few days before my Dad went to join my Mom in heaven. (and I truly believe that there is a heaven and that my Dad is there with my Mom).

But I have to admit that once I got to the funeral home, I began to see who this person was, how he lived his life and appreciate the beauty of his life and experiences. The main reason for this experience was the fact that this individual began to write down his life history, his family history, all the way from his birth back in 1916 and he had this in writing for everyone to see.

He began to work on this sometime after he retired, close to 20 some years ago. Of course, it helped that the personal computer came along and he could begin to use a word processing program to record these thoughts and events and be able to make additions along with corrections along the way.

I walked away from this wake truly feeling as if I knew this individual. I wished that I could do this for my family. I really hope that I can live long enough to do the same for my family.

My father lived with Dementia for the last few years of his life. My sister and I really didn’t know it until 2 years before he passed away. Now looking back over the past 6 years or so, we can see that our father began to have some dementia a few years before, while our mother was still alive.

And yet, the one thing that I have to admit is that my father could remember events that occurred long time ago, despite the fact that events occurring only yesterday or last week were harder for him to recall. But this was a blessing and an opportunity for me because my father’s defenses were down. My Dad would relate things and events that occurred long ago, in his past, events that he would have been hesitant to relate ten years previous. And so I would record these events for myself.

After this evening, I am even more motivated than before to chronicle as best as I can the events, the chronological history of my family. As my Father would say, I want to be able to relate the “Ten Fingers” story.

My father always talked about how he and my mother came to this country with only “Ten Fingers.” And it was those “Ten Fingers” that were the tools, the instruments, that they used to give birth to and raise 2 beautiful children and make a life that everyone who came in contact with, could enjoy and be lifted up to go and do more and better in their life. If there is one thought or main theme that comes to mind when I think of my Mom and Dad it's that "Hope Springs Eternal!"