I wrote this on behalf of my brother Michael

and all the people who were touched by our parents:

 

 

Whenever we had dinner together,

my Father

would always offer the exact same toast or prayer

at the beginning of the meal.

He would raise up his cup and say:

'Courage for the Life Ahead'.

 

It was his constant refrain over the years,

whenever people would fall silent

and hearts were gathered together in feeling.

I have come to feel and understand more of what he meant

as I too have grown older.

 

I have written this poem in celebration of my Mother and Father.

It was written when they were still alive.

It was a day when I felt the 'death sentence' of this life,

the death sentence that has fallen on everyone.

 

It was a day I felt my own eventual and coming death.

It was a day I felt my parents death

and that they were closer to death than I was.

 

It was a day when I felt how much I would lose when I lost them.

It was a day when I felt how they had lost their own parents

It was a day in which I felt so much gratitude

for what they had given to me and to our friends

and to the whole world.

 

It was a day when sorrow mixed with happiness

and filled my heart with feeling.

My parents were such good people.

I love them deeply.

I pray for them every day.

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The second part of  the video below- 'Courage for the Life Ahead,' took place one night

the month before my father passed away.

He already had a stroke, was partially paralyzed and it was difficult for him to sit up straight.

His voice was weak and he often drifted in his memories in a most beautiful and 'melancholic' way.  

 

It was late in the evening, I was preparing my video camera for a woodworking job

I was to go to the following morning.

When my father started singing, I turned on the camera and recorded him

as I lay on the floor and he sat in front of me in the living room of my house on his favorite rocker.

Several times I asked him if he was tired or wanted to rest

but he was savoring the moment and rejuvenated by what he was feeling. 

It was an exquisite evening of rare emotional outpouring and love

as he recounted various episodes and memories from his life.

I asked him many questions as we remembered our lives

and laughed and teased each other sweetly and lovingly.
 

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