My Dad’s immediate family was small.
His Mom and Dad.
Two sons.
My Dad and my Uncle.
My grandparents died many years ago.
Both relatively young.
My father died a year ago.
My Uncle died this week.
My Dad and my Uncle were children of the Depression.
My Uncle was in the army during World War II.
My Dad was in the Air Force during the Korean War.
As I get ready to drive to Pittsburgh where I grew up and where they lived their entire lives, I am aware that a generation, on that side of my family, is now gone. Memories remain, of course, but the flesh and blood connection to that time and that part of my family’s history is no more.
I search for words to describe what I am feeling.
I am sad for that which is fading away.
I am aware of the passing of time.
And, of my own mortality as I am now that oldest generation.
The place which was theirs for so many years.
Noelle Damico says
April 24, 2017 at 9:06 amThank you for this reflection, Paul. It was this line that caught me “I am sad for that which is fading away.” My mom died 6 years ago in May and my dad (who served in the navy during the Korean war) has watched as so many of his friends and loved ones have died in the last few years. It makes my heart hurt to think of the loss of those who help us know who we are — who can mirror back to us not only our present selves but our past selves. Touchstones, foundations, springboards…all these things I know that I long for as I journey forward too. Am remembering you this week in my thoughts.