Every son has a challenging relationship with their father. Whether it is cheerful or traumatic, it is forging. I am not a father, but I believe their job is to prepare their children for the world. Mine did his best to that but we were never friends. Recently the 20th anniversary of my fathers passing dredged up memories that raised conflicting emotions, I tried to sum it up in a poem. Something I have never done.
THE LEGACY OF THE FATHER
Parts of you are the best of your father
Parts of you are the worst of your father
Choose what not to be
But to be, is to be shaped by all
20 years ago, the lessons ended
But the shaping was done
20 years later the memories of good times have faded
20 years later the memories of hard times remain
It is the hard times that shaped your depth
It was the good times that shaped your outline
You must choose who you are.
