Posted:Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:36 PM CST
My 40th Birthday Gift
I have only written about my Dad in any sort of medium a couple of times. And it was difficult to say the least. But reading while cleaning, I stumbled upon an item that reminded me of something I had forgotten for years. Something I had packed away in the back of my closet both the one in my bedroom, and the closet in the deep recesses of my head.
A gift. From my Dad.
He died on June 9, 1980. 11 days before my 9th birthday. He was forty years old when he died.
So today during my breaks from the computer, I've been cleaning. I looked in the closet, and there it was. A bit dusty, but still wrapped by the hands of a man. Crooked folds, and dull creases. Tape too large for the purpose it was intended. No bow, no card.
But this present is from my dad.He bought it before he died, and wrapped it in obvious haste. I never opened it. I teared up when I found it. Choked up with emotions long since repressed by time.
I sit here in my living room. Typing this Blog occationally peering at the package. I am tempted to open it, but I won't. I'm waiting until my 40th birthday.
3 years.
It doesn't matter what's in it. It's my link to my long gone father. Something more than a fading picture or fading memories.
I can still hear his voice when it's quiet in here. And I know he's saying "Happy Birthday, Jim."