Thank you for the update, especially about getting the tattoo. My heart goes out to you, your father and the family.
Ours went through a similar experience when my father had cancer. Here is a story that my sister wrote when we got the news. I’m happy he was able to read it, and it was also used at his memorial service.
To Daddy – I Love You So Much
—by KLLP
I was born to a forest and life was good.
Sunlight shown sweetly through the trees and warmed my soul.
Soft winds whispered gently the secrets of serenity.
In my forest, the trees were tall and strong.
Everywhere there was beauty, goodness and peace.
In the forest, I learned all that was important.
I learned how to appreciate the small things, such as rich earth, the delicate flowers, the burble of a brook, the sunshine on my face.
I learned to be strong like the oaks.
I learned to bend in the wind like the pines.
But most of all, in my forest,
I learned to love the world.
And in this, I was given the gift of great happiness.
But one day, a fire came.
And it took my forest away.
I looked up at the sky that seemed different now that the branches of my trees were gone.
And beyond to the heavens I shouted, “This is wrong!”
“How can you take away something so right, so good, so pure, so clean?”
“How can you take what is so important to me?”
The tears on my face were then tenderly dried by my friend the wind, as it blew softly over me, around me. And it whispered:
“Your forest is not gone.
Its seeds live on forever.
And they are so strong.
And they are everywhere.
The beauty of the forest will be in your memory forever.
The love it gave you will always be in your heart;
Its wisdom in your thinking;
Its strength in your soul;
Its joy in your being.
As long as you give to the world
What your beloved forest gave to you,
It will always be alive.”
And so it will be.