‘Dear Dad’

In the harsh judgement of my youth

I failed to see

All the great gifts

You gave to me

Your tolerance and understanding

Your love of humanity

Your brilliant mind

With absence of vanity

How much I now long

To sit and chat

About the meaning of life

And this and that

The life you lived

Your grief’s unseen

The what’s and ifs

The might’s have been

Of all of that

So little I knew

Now life has instilled

A better view

In the balances and checks

Midst misfortunes and strife

All you can do

Is live your life

Dear Dad I’ll miss you forever

And hope you can see

That you created

The best in me

By

Mary Cecil

‘Dedicated to the memory of my father’