I Love You!

Probably the most difficult writings I've ever done have been the poems I've written for my mom and dad. To attempt to put into words, the lifetime and depth of love held - is really impossible to achieve. But for me, the purest form of love and sincereity I could ever give, is that which is written. This is the poem I wrote for my daddy, who I love and adore. He has played many roles in my life as I grew up, but he has consistently been my constant source of peace, stability, guidence and unending love - that has truely shown as much as I believe possible on this earth, the unfailing love of my God.

How many times I have sat and tried to write...

Your face appearing to me in my mind's eye -

        Your eyes...

                Your smile...

                        Your laugh...

Instantly I feel my chest tighten,

My breath shorten,

My throat begin to constrict

My eyest begin to tear...

"Every single time"

It's really not so hard to understand,

        "You are my everything"

                   "You have always been everything to me."

It was in your arms that I always found my safety,

It was in your gaze that I always knew how special I was,

It was in your words that I always knew you would love me forever....

You were my first hero...

        You were my first best friend...

                You were my first true love....

Every memory I treasure,

Every moment with you I want to hold onto so tightly -

As if I could keep it from passing on to the next moment

When i remember our crazy rides in the Opel...on the sidewalk!

    When I remember the hunting trips before school,

         When I remember running from the rain together at Oakmont,

               When I remember you teaching me how to use the clutch,

                     When I remember you blowing the Oldsmobile horn in the morning...

                                     It makes me smile and laugh!

When I remember your hugs and kisses,

    When I remember you giving me control of the canoe on the Cahaba River,

         When I remember our walks and our talks by the pond,

               When I remember hiking together at Oak Mountain,

                       When I remember that certain way you would look at me....

                               - that always gave away how much you loved me -

                                                     It always makes me cry greatful tears

When I remember you letting me go,

         to make my own decision for recovery -

                   My own decision for life...

When I remember you letting me go

       to make some of my other decisions

              that you knew weren't the right ones,

But you loved me enough to let me make them....

       and then run back into your arms,

               when it really didn't work out the way I thought it would....

When I remember you letting me go with your words and your blessings

       Into the loving arms of my husband...

             Who I came to love because I see you in his eyes...

                       I see you in his smile...

                             I see you in his tenderness towards me...

- All of these things cause such emotion that there is no way to fully express them -

But of all the memories...

      Of all the expriences...

            Of all the moments that we have shared...

The one that strikes my heart the deepest,

       Are those that we shared with Jesus...

Daddy, it was you who showed me Jesus

       You showed Him to me in your words,

             In your unconditional love,

                  Saying sweet prayers with me from childhood to adulthood,

                           In everything you have ever done

For every moment that I fell in love with you as a child,

       I fell in love with Him...

Regardless of my mistakes,

      I have loved and known that I was loved by Him,

             Because I always knew, "I was loved by you..."

But it has only been in recent years that I have realized something,

     That love...so ingrained into every part of my being,

            Came from the great love you enabled me to have...

- And all of these things...

       they make me cry,

             they make me laugh

                   and they fill my heart with amazing love and thankfulness

                         that your are my daddy and that God gave you to me-
                                  and I love you!