Saturday, June 1, 2019

Happy 58th Birthday and Blessings for my Father

Happy 58th Birthday my friend, wherever you are! I hope that  you're sitting at God's right hand, helping others get acclimated to heaven.
While you are there, could you keep an eye out for my dad, Duane Semler? He's just passed, and I will admit that I felt that he'd be relieved to be rid of the pain that he was in and the suffering of losing his mind to dementia.
He was an optimist and a happy person, but he was also deeply proud of his mental acuity and his love of lifelong learning. He believed in education for everyone, especially to those who education could help raise from poverty or other dire circumstances. He was also very gullible and reminded a lot of people of Fred Flintstone in demeanor. I was certainly his Pebbles, his only daughter and I know he was proud of me for finishing my education with college and grad school.
I was able to tell him, via my high school friend Kim Weber's cell phone, that I loved him and that it was time to let go and begin his final journey. I sent the song "I Believe For Every Drop of Rain That Falls" sung my Elvis, to his funeral, along with the poem, below.
 
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am in a thousand winds that blow,
I am the softly falling snow.
I am the gentle showers of rain,
I am the fields of ripening grain.
I am in the morning hush,
I am in the graceful rush
Of beautiful birds in circling flight,
I am the starshine of the night.
I am in the flowers that bloom,
I am in a quiet room.
I am in the birds that sing,
I am in each lovely thing.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there. I do not die.
Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep
by
Mary Elizabeth Frye

I think he would have appreciated this, and I know that he appreciated the poems and words that I read at your funeral, amiga.



Today, I put your birthday salutations on my Facebook page, along with a link to the Dubliner's Whiskey in the Jar, a favorite song of yours, I know. So please look out after yourself and after my father today, and know that I love you both. Your loss and the loss of my dad have been devastating, but I want to believe that both of you are looking down on me and my family, and watching over us. Thank you.
 

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