Dad’s Birthday

Today you'd be one hundred and three.

When you would have been a hundred

we celebrated with a dinner and party

in your honor.

Each of your children

spoke of something remembered-

funny, sad, sober,

some sketchy, some in great detail.

The anecdotes poured out-

the time you showed me

how to throw a curve-ball

and I threw it through a neighbor's window,

the time you rushed Marilyn to hospital

and helped deliver her child

in the emergency room,

the time you rescued Don

when he nearly drowned,

the time you cashed in an insurance policy

so Marian could go to college.

There seemed no end to stories.

It is as if we were trying

to piece you together, bring you back,

one smile, frown, laugh, tear,

at a time.

We wondered about things we didn't know.

What was it like for you

to grow up without a father,

to only hear stories of him,

to not have any of your own,

to miss someone you never knew.

We didn't have answers

so we drank a toast

and went home.

Here's another.

--Robert McFarlane​

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