"High from the earth . . ."

Bernard F. Chandler, Sr. with daughters Cathy and Debby

On this sad day, the one-year anniversary of my father's death (thirteen months after my mother's passing), I am reminded of something Emily Dickinson wrote in a letter to her friend, Mrs. Samuel E. Mack, in 1844:

"The Dyings have been too deep for me, and before I could raise my heart from one, another has come."

Below is an uplifting poem by Emily Dickinson, about fathers, faith, hope and love, despite life's difficulties.


High from the earth I heard a bird;
He trod upon the trees
As he esteemed them trifles,
And then he spied a breeze,
And situated softly
Upon a pile of wind
Which in a perturbation
Nature had left behind.
A joyous-going fellow
I gathered from his talk,
Which both of benediction
And badinage partook,
Without apparent burden,
I learned, in leafy wood
He was the faithful father
Of a dependent brood;
And this untoward transport
His remedy for care,—
A contrast to our respites.
How different we are!


-- Poem #1723 (Emily Dickinson)


Missing you, Daddy.  ♥ Cathy