Thomas Site. It's A Place to Go.

Let me begin with a moment of silence to honor dad's spirit.

As the family gathered around Dad last week,
we shared stories of our common past,
laughing and crying about the memories.

We talked about the funny things that Dad used to do,
the amazing things that happened to us and him,
together and apart.

And I realized that one of my deepest fears is that those memories—
those things we shared together—
will get forgotten because
there is now one less person around
to hold the memories and make them fresh again.

But I started to see another perspective.

Watching over dad's dying,
I saw that what had happened in the past
was important as a way for us
to share a little of ourselves with each other.

That our shared past
was the most important thing
that mattered as we took turns holding dad's hands.

All the detail became unimportant to that connection.

I saw that it's not the memories of the past that matter—
it's the sharing of those memories with others,
and the bond that the sharing creates among us.

Those don't go away when one of us is gone—
we will still remember dad
and all his crazy and wonderful ways.

And I guess that's what it means
when we say that dad's spirit lives on in each of us.