We place into the earth a shell that carried the spirit of the person we knew and loved. It is the gifts that we received, the lessons we were taught, and those loving memories that carry our beloved on through life with us. The grave is there as a reminder that this body is mortal, and should be respected as such, but it is the eternal soul that truly gives us something to remember, until it is our turn to move into whatever beyond we believe awaits us.
My father has long since departed, so I am on the same side of the fence, but I am the man I am because of the man he was. Not all of his lessons were good ones, nor were all of my memories of kindness and hope, but all of my memories were formative to the father I have become. Light and Dark dance on the same blank wall, it is what we interpret from that dance that guides our decisions.
Be the person you are and know that your father would have been proud. No matter how he expressed it, he surly said 'I love you'.
Wrote this a while ago, just found it again!
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