He too was born in 1915, and I just sat for a long time and stared out the window, asking myself "How can I give tribute to Dad in such a short space ? How can I put into words the millions of memories that are flooding me now as I sit with this paper in front of me?"
I wanted to give the hundreds of people who would be there at the funeral all the things I felt about my "hero", my Dad. But I knew I couldn't, and what a shame. I think what I said was good, and just enough to project the love and loss we felt when he left us as we slept. I always think of that song by Frank Sinatra " Softly, I will leave you softly".
I will always think of your boys lowering your Dad down so he can look up at the Redwood trees he so wanted to see on this earth. What a tender scene you shared. I couldn't help but think of all the times your Dad carried you, or lifted you kids up on his shoulder! Now you both helped hold him, and allow him to see the beauty of the trees, and the magnificent sky above it all.
He now is strong..and see's beauty that we can only imagine. Someone once explained it like this :
" When someone leaves us in death, it is like a person getting in a boat. The people on the shore, saying goodbye, are sad, they don't want him to go. They are sad. BUT....on the OTHER SHORE..there are people who KNOW he is soon going to ARRIVE..and there is laughter and anticipation to see him !! "
I hope you think of that, and think of the people who welcomed him "Home".