Beadlust

D is for Dad...

D is for Dad, my wonderful Dad, who peacefully passed away last Thursday evening, two hours before I was able to get there (to St. Paul Minnesota, where my parents and two brothers live).

Dad & Robin (I'm about 13 years old in this picture)

K is for kind and patient, which he always was with his five children. Yet he was not "soft," for he held us to high standards, both by his example and by his requirements of us.

H is for honest. I've never known a more honest and trustworthy person than my Dad

U is for unpretentious. Though he was a Phi Beta Kappa, PhD graduate of Stanford University, and a distinguished Professor at the University of MN for 37 years, he lived simply and modestly.

H is for his sense of humor and ready chuckle, the way he always made up funny words and songs, the way his spontaneous and contagious laugh would send adults and children into giggles and guffaws.

E is for even-tempered. Dad was a get along type of guy, optimistic, with a sunny disposition.

F is for friend. As I matured, our father-daughter relationship faded and morphed into a deep friendship, which flourished as Mom's hearing began to fail and finally was lost. Dad and I talked on the phone frequently, sometimes daily, often with long discussions on many diverse topics. I cannot imagine what it will be like not to have these telephone conversations any more.

L is for lost. This is how I feel at the moment.

L is also for love. Our love is with him and surrounds him, wherever he is... and his love is with us and surrounds us, wherever we are.

M is for how much I miss him... more than I can express.

Dad & Robin ~ About 50 years later (September, 2004)

T is for thank you. Thank you for the kind thoughts and wishes many of you posted to comments a week ago. They were a support and comfort to me.