Written Tuesday. November 2, 2003


When I was a child, my father
----Took me to the beach at sunrise;
We sat in silence and listened to the wind.
It was grand it was beautiful.

Soon my father took me to the shoreline
----I loved the waves lapping at my feet,
----And the sand coming in between my toes
The waves were exciting and thrilling.

My Father grabbed my hand and held me close,
He gave me a hug,
----Then rushed me into the ocean.
----We played
----We splashed
----We swam
----We had fun and adventure.
And when I looked at my fathers face,
----He was more excited than I

We came out on to the beach
We filled our curiosity with looking for seashore shells
----And our imagination with sea faring stories
----And sand castles
Oh! And we raced bare foot in the sand
----And wrestled till we had sand in our hair.
I did not want to leave.

Before I knew it,
My father took me out to sea, in the midst of a hurricane
It was terrible. Fear struck through me
----And I trembled in terror
I was afraid. The storm had such strength and power.
It was mighty.
I cried out, “Father why”
He did not speak

He swept me off my feet and took me to the depths,
This took some time, there was more there
----Than I could possibly have imagined.
We explored the coral reefs,
----We followed the path of the whales,
----We played with dolphins
----We explored mountains
----Saw wonders
----He allowed me to explore and fill my curiosity
And taught me many things

He took me out in a boat, it was silent
I looked around at the vastness of the oceans,
Tears came to my eyes, for it was so very wonderful.
My father sat beside me there and taught me
----The way of the wind,
----And said, “Son, count the stars,”
----Then he smiled, “I know them all by name”
We talked and talked till I knew his heart.

“Son”
“Yes, father"
“Know the vastness and depth of my love”