THOUGHTS ON DAD AT FUNERAL TIME

**My father passed away in August 2007. He had been ill with lung cancer for about 6 months. At least that is when he had the first diagnosis. It was diagnosed only in the last stage. He must have had the cancer for a long time prior. After the rounds of chemo and radiation, the tests showed that his lungs had cleared, but it had spread to the liver (perhaps even before the treatment), and he was now too weak to undergo any more treatments. He knew at that time that it was his death sentance. I have lived my whole adult life in a long-distance manner, and we were deemed to part long distance. Sadly, I did not make it back in time to see him one more time before he passed. Needless to say, it has been difficult at best to cope with that. The following is something that I wrote for the minister overseeing the funeral service to read for the people in attendance.

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THOUGHTS ON DAD AT FUNERAL TIME


How do you put the real feelings into words?

How do you express a lifetime of love, joys, and sorrow in a few short lines?

When a girl loses her father-it's no easy thing for her to handle.

My father was no ordinary nor simple man. He worked tremendously hard and long through the years to provide for his family the best possible within his reach. Yet he never let work or monetary success take priority over simple happiness and satisfaction of his family. Leisure time and fun family time was equally important as was striving for necessities and even luxuries for daily life. And although he was dedicated to his loving wife and precious children, he never forgot about his ageing parents behind him. He had a canny and tactfully loving manner of paying due attention to all. Not forgetting to mention his dedication to the betterment of the society through volunteer work in all stages of his life.

If I had the chance to send him a message, I would tell him that although I remain his little girl-I'm no longer a little girl. With his passing I've aged greatly-perhaps finally grown up. I've already told him that I love him, and with that we both had our own closure. But I would also promise him that his memory-and perhaps his legacy-will live on.

Not to be forgotten, nor lost, my dear father has found a sense of importance and immortality by the endearing mark he has left on this world.

And now I pray for him for the peace that he so sincerely desired.

-Samira Van Fossen
27 August, 2007