Daddy's Love

Daddy’s Love

 It was there in the beginning, before I could even see
when through my mother’s belly, you gently felt for me.
You whispered, through the darkness, the promises you’d keep.
Your voice a distant murmur that calmed my unborn sleep.

It was seen on my birth day, when you first held me in your arms
Cradled there. Protected. Safe from this world’s harms.
With tears and trembling kisses your lips touched to my nose
You marveled at the perfectness of my tiny hands and toes.

And as I grew, so many times, I’d reach, and it’d be there
To smile away my boo boos, or wipe away a tear
You’d wrap your arms around me , and with a big hug or squeeze
You’d set me back upon my feet, another day to seize.

Oh I was not a perfect child, and sometimes your hand was hard
I tested all the boundaries, and often went too far
But even when I misbehaved and you’d paddle my behind
Deep down I knew your heavy hand was of the love-filled kind

In my teens and early twenties, I fought my need for you.
“I could do it by myself”! , “I knew just what to do”!
You let me go. You cheered me on. You let me find my way.
But IT was always with me, no matter where I’d stray.

On the day of my wedding , when together we walked the aisle
it was written on your face and was in your tear-stained smile.
Our last walk together, I didn’t know that’s what it’d be.
Our last private moment, you, your love, and me.

You’ve been gone so long now, but your love has stayed behind
It lives on forever. Memories of it fill my mind.
I know that it was real. I know that it was true.
But Daddy, I sometimes wonder, Did you know I loved you too?


Written in September, 2011.  Thinking about him a lot lately.