A poem and quotes about fathers
March 4th 2011 08:40
This poem is fairly traditional in style, but it appealed to me for its sense of grace.
Forgiving: a poem for my husband - by Jean S Platt (printed in Marriage and Family Living, June 1988)
I gazed upon you sleeping like a child,
and when you woke to find me there, you smiled,
and drew me close. I was remorseful, then,
remembering that hurtful moment when
my tongue betrayed me, lending voice to thought
which, even then, I knew was best forgot.
But you, my love, possessed of special grace,
a gift with which you pardon and efface
imprudent words. How freely you forgive
and by example teach me how to live.
And a couple of quotes from William Wharton's book, Dad, which I really enjoyed when I read it - whether it would still appeal is another question.
Dad - William Wharton - Chapter 15
'It's just destiny, Dad. Accidents are a question of bad luck. You can only do so much. There's no sense sweating it; you can worry yourself straight past any fun in life.'
'I used to feel that way, Bill; it's part of being young. It's also a question of recklessness. I looked up the word 'reck' once to see if there really was such a word. It means worry or care. As people get older they get more 'reck.' Bad experiences, accidents near misses - seeing things like we just saw - pile up, accumulate in the brain. A person becomes more 'recky' every year; continuity, survival, gets bigger and bigger.
'Also, the brain itself is changing. Certain kinds of mental and physical skills begin declining as early as seventeen.
'I've watched myself becoming less sure, Bill, less capable of making decisions. When I'm driving, I feel caught between the reckless, the twenty-year old and the inept, the fifty or sixty-year old, who might not have the skills to cope with an emergency. And I can't help projecting my limitations onto others like you, Bill. I can't be comfortable when you drive in ways I couldn't handle.'
Dad - William Wharton - Chapter 20
It's hard for fathers to wait, but you have to give boys time, they're slow. Sons are what worry a man, because most men are scared, so they're scared for their sons.
Perhaps I should read it again; the father in that first quote sounds a lot like me! Ironically, Wharton's daughter, her husband and two children were all killed in an horrific car crash some years after 'Dad' was written.
Forgiving: a poem for my husband - by Jean S Platt (printed in Marriage and Family Living, June 1988)
I gazed upon you sleeping like a child,
and when you woke to find me there, you smiled,
and drew me close. I was remorseful, then,
remembering that hurtful moment when
my tongue betrayed me, lending voice to thought
which, even then, I knew was best forgot.
But you, my love, possessed of special grace,
a gift with which you pardon and efface
imprudent words. How freely you forgive
and by example teach me how to live.
And a couple of quotes from William Wharton's book, Dad, which I really enjoyed when I read it - whether it would still appeal is another question.
Dad - William Wharton - Chapter 15
'It's just destiny, Dad. Accidents are a question of bad luck. You can only do so much. There's no sense sweating it; you can worry yourself straight past any fun in life.'
'I used to feel that way, Bill; it's part of being young. It's also a question of recklessness. I looked up the word 'reck' once to see if there really was such a word. It means worry or care. As people get older they get more 'reck.' Bad experiences, accidents near misses - seeing things like we just saw - pile up, accumulate in the brain. A person becomes more 'recky' every year; continuity, survival, gets bigger and bigger.
'Also, the brain itself is changing. Certain kinds of mental and physical skills begin declining as early as seventeen.
'I've watched myself becoming less sure, Bill, less capable of making decisions. When I'm driving, I feel caught between the reckless, the twenty-year old and the inept, the fifty or sixty-year old, who might not have the skills to cope with an emergency. And I can't help projecting my limitations onto others like you, Bill. I can't be comfortable when you drive in ways I couldn't handle.'
Dad - William Wharton - Chapter 20
It's hard for fathers to wait, but you have to give boys time, they're slow. Sons are what worry a man, because most men are scared, so they're scared for their sons.
Perhaps I should read it again; the father in that first quote sounds a lot like me! Ironically, Wharton's daughter, her husband and two children were all killed in an horrific car crash some years after 'Dad' was written.
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