Wednesday, April 27, 2011

One Shot Wednesday - A Life Well Lived

Pops in a dress.

My father turned 80 on April 6th. Here is a poem I wrote for him:

When a man looks to judge the successes of his life,
He looks to the things he has gathered about him;
He looks to the things he calls his own;
He looks to the things he has created.
He looks around and he sees,
He has planted the seeds
Of his posterity,
Of his legacy,
Of himself:
His children,
His grand-children,
His great-grand-children.
And in their lives,
He has built generations where
He sees his eyes and dimples in some
He sees his mannerisms, hears his laugh in others
He sees himself stretching grandly on into the future
He sees his life is good; he sees he has done good work.
When a man looks to take his measure,
He sees he is loved.

Dedicated to my father, a man whose family is everything to him, on his 80th birthday.


The tough guy on the left.




Share an original poem on One Shot Wednesdays.




Merry Meet and Blessed Be




32 comments:

  1. It's good to get to "know" your father. I miss mine. He will be gone five months on the 28th.

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  2. What a wonderful tribute to your dad. I hope he has/had a blessed birthday!

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  3. Btw, you won Tenebrous Tuesday at my place!

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  4. That's a lovely tribute to your father. I loved the poem and the photos were great. He looks spiffy in his uniform.

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  5. i do beleive that to measure truly ones life, love would be a great way to measure it...nice nessa...

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  6. This was such a joy to read, a wonderful poem and a wonderful tribute to a much loved Dad :o)

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  7. What a beautiful tribute to a life well-lived.

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  8. A beautiful tribute that for a few personal reasons just touched my heart. Thank you

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  9. what a beautiful tribute Nessa you're lucky to have each other!

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  10. Love given is never lost. It returns to you.

    What an awesome poem about your father. Happy birthday to him. He is blessed indeed.

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  11. Wonderful words for an amazing man- there's so much history in these photos, Nessa. Thanks much for sharing your words and these shots.

    (Happy, Happy Birthday to your father!)

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  12. So beautifully written and very touching as my father passed at age 56 years. Those photos are eerily similar to ones I have of my father, the uniform photo, in particular--so proud and ready to serve.

    Thanks so much for sharing these loving and powerful words.
    :)

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  13. The measure of the love around him is a good way to measure a man. It says a lot about his character.

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  14. A wonderful, warm tribute to your father - may he see many more springs, is my wish for him and for you all, his family.

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  15. A beautiful tribute to your father, Nessa. Belated Happy Birthday wishes to him. He must have been delighted and honored with your poem!

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  16. That was a touching poem. It gives me the feeling of a life well lived...of looking around and seeing it was all worth it.

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  17. The true worth of a person is the amount of love they have shared. I dig it!

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  18. Wow! I love this poem. What a beautiful tribute to your father! Thanks for liking my book!

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  19. Lovely dedication and what a wonderful what to measure and take stock of a life well lived.

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  20. A beautiful tribute o your father :)

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  21. How fortunate your father, the recipient of this tribute...

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  22. Beautiful tribute to your dad!
    Enjoyed reading it :)

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  23. Happy birthday to him, and you couldn't have said it better.

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  24. That's a beautiful poem for your dad. I love the photos, too. Seems to me we have similar ones in our family album. God bless.

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  25. A wonderful tribute to your father and the pics are great too.

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  26. ...When a man looks to take his measure,
    He sees he is loved
    ...

    ...beautiful dedication.

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  27. It was the overlap of the pictures of man with his future yet to come with the testimony of what is now his past that I found most moving

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  28. this is such a touching poem. He sounds like a wonderful man. Happy birthday to your papa.

    JM

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