My dad is gone, but never forgotten

Site Admin/Owner Joined: Aug 27, 2002 Posts: 17088

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.

Then someone at my side says, "There, she is gone!"

"Gone where?"

Gone from my site. That is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.

Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says: "There, she is gone!" there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout: "Here she comes!"

And - that is dying.

Henry Van Dyke

My dad passed peacefully into the loving arms of his Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Sunday morning at 2:54am. I held and beheld him as he breathed his last. Gone, but never to be forgotten. For a Christian, "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord". Praised be the name of our Lord. Be watching for us, dad, we will see you in God's time.

Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2004 9:37 pm

May God give you and your loved ones the strength to overcome these hard times and may he keep to his side your father's soul. May he rest in peace.

Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2004 11:04 pm

Heartfelt condolences!

registered · Client Joined: Sep 25, 2003 Posts: 58

I feel with you Raven for your loss and will remember your dad in my prayers.

Sincerely ,

Peter

Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2004 5:22 am

My heartfelt condolences to you and your family.

registered · Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2004 6:47 am

Raven, nothing that can be said or done right now will make things "better", but as a mere human, all I can do is "feel for you" in this time of both pain (the loss of your father) and "rejoicing" (in knowing your father is with God as opposed to where he could have ended up). For Christians, it's a hard time because of those two emotions you may feel, although the pain tends to linger and weigh heavier than the rejoicing.....*sigh*.....I call you friend even though we have yet to meet and I have only known you a short while....however, I wish I were there with you and your family to simply lend an ear, shoulder or helping hand.

Take care and although we cannot replace family and friends nearby, you know your friends are here on the forums waiting for you and here for you, whatever you need!

registered · Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2004 8:27 am

As you can tell we all care for you and your family very much. My prayers were with you all weekend. Praise be to God, your father is with his Father now!

When you get back into town if there is anything I can do to help please let me know.

Client Joined: Jul 18, 2003 Posts: 977

I am sorry for your loss. This earthly frame always wishes that our loved ones would never have to leave us but we as believers know the truth though, don't we... I find words at these times difficult but I pray for you and your family.

Client Joined: Apr 10, 2004 Posts: 649 Location: UK

May you find comfort in knowing your dear father is with the Lord in Heaven at peace and in no pain.

He will always be with you in your heart, until you can be with him again.

Thinking of you and your family.

Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2004 11:06 am

My heartfelt condolences to you and your family.

New Member Joined: Jan 22, 2004 Posts: 11

My heartfelt condolences Raven, from the other side of the ocean.

Sincerely yours,

Leopold

Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2004 12:09 pm

My most heartfelt condolences to you and your family Raven.

Hangin' Around Joined: Jan 22, 2004 Posts: 31

Raven, condolences from the heart

God be with you

Andrzej

Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2004 2:44 pm

Most heartfelt condolences to you and your family Raven.

Hangin' Around Joined: Nov 27, 2003 Posts: 37

Raven, I feel your pain, as my mother passed not so long ago. My condolences to you and your family.
echo

Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2004 9:35 pm

Very sad news.. Thoughts and prayers go out to you, Raven, and your family Sad

~Stephen

Regular Joined: May 31, 2004 Posts: 95 Location: NY

Quote:

My heartfelt condolences to you and your family.

Worker Joined: Aug 16, 2003 Posts: 107 Location: USA

I am sorry for your loss. My condolences to you and your family.

Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2004 6:33 am

Raven, when you get back, I would feel honored to have you light a candle in memory of your father, on my site.

Involved Joined: Jul 15, 2004 Posts: 252 Location: OKC, OK

It is not an easy thing to lose a father. It is never easy to lose a loved one of corse, but a father like a mother is special.If there can be any thing good about cancer it is that it can give you time to face death. I belive that to die with ones loved ones around is about as good as one can hope for. I don't know your family but it sounds like they were with him and I am sure that gave him comfort in the end.

For a man to have a true and loving son is the greatest gift, no man can be said to be a failure if he has raised his son to be an honest and careing man.

What I know of you I belive your father was no failure in life.

Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2004 8:08 am

Thank you all so very much for these comforting words. I will write much more later, but I wanted to let you know that I read the posts about once a day when I can. Tomorrow night is the memorial service and visitation. He will be cremated, or may already have been. The cancer he had beaten, but the Parkinson's and complications of many things just beat him down to where he couldn't fight back. Then again there may have been more cancer that we never knew about. I stood by his side for the last 16 hours of his life - touching, holding and talking. Dying is an interesting process. Just as you see God's hand in birth, you see His hand in death.

Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2004 5:12 pm

It's good you had that time to talk. You can say things you would not have had the chance to in any other circumstances, and that somehow makes you and your loved one feel closer and the whole thing easier to bear.

After caring for my mother throughout her cancer at home, when she was taken into the hospice the week she passed away, I was by her side for almost 2 days before she died, and they told me I should take a break, as they said she still had some time, so I went home to feed my animals and bath, (I did everything as fast as I could to get back to her) and as I was walking out of the house the phone rang and they told me she had passed away. I was heartbroken, and felt so guilty that I had left her. But now all these years after I am so grateful that for the months leading up to that time we were able to speak openly about our feelings for each other and bring comfort to each other.

I'm so glad you and your father had that precious time together.

Involved Joined: Sep 22, 2003 Posts: 252

I'm sorry for your loss Raven.

-Gary

Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2004 9:44 pm

Raven wrote:

Just as you see God's hand in birth, you see His hand in death.

I understand that!

It is not something I wish on anyone but the moment of death is a very real thing, you can see it happen.

In a sad kinda way I envy you Raven. I wish I had the time to spend with my father. He went like *that* .

Lord I know it hurts now but you have been giving a gift.

sorry if I am coming across as on my pittey pot... but I just relived my fathers death 8 years ago tonight.

May the glory of Heaven shine down on you and yours.

Hangin' Around Joined: Sep 10, 2002 Posts: 30

Gaylen,

My thoughts and prayers go out to your and your family.