"Sure is a beautiful day Daddy!"

We're attending a conference at an Idaho mountain resort, and I had a couple free hours one afternoon to spend with Heather and Ethan. Sometimes when Ethan and I are alone, he will say "Sure is a beautiful day Daddy!" Last night I read a blog posting of a friend who has a child graduating from high school, and she reprinted an old poem called "Hold Fast the Summer" by Mary W. Abel. I read it having just spent a glorious day with my 3 year old son who continues to be excited about his emerging world. As I read the poem, I couldn't help but think "Sure is a beautiful day, Ethan." Here's the poem:

"Hold fast the summer. It is the beauty of the day and all it contains.The laughter and work and finally the sleep. The quiet.Oh September, do not put your weight upon my mind.For I know he will be going. This son of mine who is now a man -- he must go.Time will lace my thoughts with joyous years. The walls will echo his 'Hello.'His caring will be around each corner.His tears will be tucked into our memory book.Life calls him beyond our reach -- to different walls.New faces, shiny halls, shy smiles, many places.Greater learning -- he must go.But wait, before he leaves, be sure he knows you love him.Hide the lump in your throat as you hug him.He will soon be home again -- but he will be different.The little boy will have disappeared.How I wished I could take September and shake it, for it came too soon.I must look to the beauty of each new day, and silently give thanks."

I miss him already.

Comments

The Two Faces of the American Dream

The massive wave of Norwegian immigration to Minnesota from the 1850s through the early 20th century wasn't a casual choice; it was an escape from crushing land scarcity and economic desperation. My ancestors, the Dunhams, arrived in 1851 and built a life in Otter Tail County in Minnesota. My great-great-grandfather, Jens Christian Dunham, didn’t just survive—he thrived. He served in the Minnesota legislature as a Republican from 1888 to 1890 and later became a staunch advocate for President Teddy Roosevelt. He was the literal embodiment of the American Dream: an immigrant who fled poverty to become a lawmaker in his new home. Fast forward a century, and a new wave of immigrants—this time from Somalia—is following that exact same blueprint. Like the Norwegians before them, they fled hardship to build a future in Minnesota, and many have run for office to serve the state that welcomed them. Yet, the political rhetoric surrounding these two groups couldn't be more polarized. Don...

Phantom Blindness and Taking a Break after Strokes

I met with my eye doctor last week about taking some time off from my vision therapy. I have been doing therapy since my stroke almost two and a half years ago. I am tired, and a need a break. My doctor said, “This is completely understandable. Take some time off.” At the appointment, my doctor tested my vision. Because of the strokes, my vision was affected, and I have a problem in my field of vision on the right side. I have a deficit with my right side peripheral vision. However, it is getting better. During the test, I told him that I “sense things on the right side of my peripheral vision.” It seems that I know that something is there, but I cannot really distinguish what it is. He told me that there is a body of thought describing phantom vision or phantom blindness. A Polish researcher, L. Bieganowski, described this phantom blindness this way: “The subject of the paper is the phenomenon of phantom vision. It occurs among the blind (or almost blind...

Greek orthodox and Catholic‘s

Being a history buff, I’ve always understood that the Catholic Church was split in about 1000 A.D. Our Greek tour guide mentioned the differences a little bit yesterday, but she did not capture the full history. Today I saw a small Greek orthodox by the roadside and I’m going to insert about the history. Eastern Orthodox Catholics and Roman Catholics are the result of what is known as the East-West Schism (or Great Schism) of 1054, when medieval Christianity split into two branches. The Byzantine split with Roman Catholicism came about when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne, King of the Franks, as Holy Roman Emperor in 800. From the Byzantine viewpoint, this was a slap to the Eastern Emperor and the Byzantine Empire itself — an empire that had withstood barbarian invasions and upheld the faith for centuries. After Rome fell in 476, Byzantium was the only vestige of the Holy Roman Empire. Charlemagne’s crowning made the Byzantine Emperor redundant, and relations between the East and...

Dunham Family and My Stroke Story!

Search This Blog