Dear Daddy

This is a poem I wrote for my wife about her late father

Dear Daddy,
I still remember your face.
The hurt isn’t gone,
but it’s slowing its pace.

 

They say time heals all wounds,
and I think that that’s true.
But even time has a price,
and it charges in twos.

 

The first thing that time takes,
are the tears that you cry.
It takes them in bunches,
until you’ve finally run dry.

 

The second’s the worst,
and that’s how it makes you feel.
They call it “forgetting”,
and it’s the medicine that “heals”.

 

There has been plenty to take,
of the first of the two.
But the forgetting is something,
that I simply can’t do.

 

I refuse to surrender,
my memory of you.
I will deal with the pain,
because it’s what you would do.

 

If forgetting’s the medicine,
and the price is my tears.
Then maybe hope is the drug,
that will get me through the years.

 

Hope that I’ll see you,
and that you’ll give me that smile.
Hope that you’ll hold me,
if just for awhile.

 

Hope that you see me,
when I’m crying for you.
Hope that you’re proud,
of the struggles I’ve went through.

 

Hope you can hear,
when your grandbabies laugh.
Hope that you saw,
Bubba’s first bath.

 

Hope that your happy,
walking through the blue skies.
Hope you know how much I miss you,
when these tears fill my eyes.

 

Hope that you’re watching,
all the things that you’ve missed.
Hope that you’ve heard,
all the wishes I’ve wished.

 

Hope you’ll pick me up,
if ever I fall.
And knowing you will,
is the best thing of all.

 

But most of all Daddy,
I hope you wait for me.
Because if heaven’s full of dreams,
then you’re the first thing I’ll see.