Please accept my condolences, also. It is hard to let go of someone who is so loved.

Sue

My sympathies on your loss, Phaedrus. The poem is beautiful and such a wonderful sentiment. When I take Gidget for a walk this evening, the breeze and birds will have special meaning.

A friend in their sixties who lost their mom and dad observed that we're never too old to feel orphaned when our parents pass. I thought that accurately captured how profound the loss is. It has been six years since my father died (suddenly via heart attack) and sometimes it still seems unreal.

Best wishes to you and your family. And a prayer for your father: may he rest in peace.

Whatever you have to do to get through this, do it. You may come into the kitchen, a thought may come to your mind and you may end up on the floor crying.

When Dad died, I spent an entire week on my bedroom floor just coloring in my coloring books while listening to the radio. I was six when my dad died so you may end up doing something different. The point is, do what you need to do.

Jeanette Isabelle

Phaedrus:
After loosing my beloved, I found this of enormous help.
http://www.bereavementcare.org.uk/pdf%20files/Has_someone_died.pdf

The full site is:

http://www.bereavementcare.org.uk/free_leaflets.html


Take the time to read it through. Accept the advice that it gives. Follow it.

You are going to find the next few months enormously difficult. Loosing your Father is one of the most traumatic event's that you will ever experience. But you will get through it. It will change you, but you will come out of it as a stronger person.

If you want to talk, PM me and I'll drop you my e-mail address.

Regard's,
Leigh.

Phaedrus,

My prayers are with you and all who are missing this greatly loved man.

Thank you for allowing us to know your father through your writings. You have honored us and him with your words.

I, too, have lost my father. As others have offered, you are free to PM me if you want.

MoBOB

Thanks for all the support and well wishes. I truly appreciate it.

Phaedrus,

I seen your post on early Friday morning right before we left on a weekend trip. My condolences on the loss of your dad. Although my mere words I write here may not give you solace or ease your grief, but I want you to know that I thought of you, your father and your family while out hiking near this mountain peak on Saturday. As we sat there, I could not help but think that your dad would of enjoyed the view and appreciated the experience more then we ever could.

Teslin

Wow, he would indeed have loved that view! Thanks. I have the feeling that I'll be with my dad every time I venture into the wild spaces. I'm hoping my brother and I can head out to the woods to hang out with the old man for awhile next week.

I am sorry to hear about your loss. Please accept my condolescences.

I'm mentally preparing for the fact that within a few years (5 - 15? Who knows) I shall be fatherless, too. He's still going strong, but getting closer to his limit.

When my grandparents had died, my father said there was something really weird and wicked about suddenly becoming the oldest generation in the family. Not being a man of many words he didn't elaborate, but I think I can guess what he meant. In a few years I shall have to deal with it, too. I can't say I look forward to it - but it is how things are.

If there is anything I learned from going through similar experiences, it is that my relationship with my loved ones did not die with their physical death. My relationship with them is very much alive, and continues to give me comfort in times of difficulty, helps me grow and shapes me as a person, and keeps me company in memory. I gradually came to realize that a person's existence is so much greater than a pulse. It includes the lives he touched, the love he gave, the mark he made in the world. We can help nurture this spiritual existence by celebrating the gifts that the departed gave us.

I think going into the woods will be good for your soul indeed.


Da Bing