Cherished Memories (June 17, 2018)

It has been 34 years

Four months

And 15 days

Since your sudden death

On my birthday

Opa.

As I was exploring

The wonderful world

Of puberty

For the first time.

Trust me

It's even worse

Doing it

For the second time

As an adult.

Sigh.

On my saddest day

A smile graces me

Remembering your antics

With us.

Your grandchildren

And great grandchildren.

The toothless grin

Lighting up your face

Like a 1000 watt light bulb

As you chuckle

At our reactions.

Where everyday worries

Took a backseat

To the corner of love

And pure joy

You generated

Opa.

Especially

When you offer us

Some of your candy

(Coarse cut chewing tobacco)

In broken English and Dutch.

Your eyes lit with humour

As we screw up

Our faces.

Younger children runaway

Shrieking “Opa!”

In rejection.

Knowing smiles

And laughter

Filled the living room

Of those watching.

Even now

Am smiling

At this memory

As I write this.

Thank you

Opa.

Therisa © 2018

In Honour (June 15, 2018)

For most of my cousins and I

The Second World War

Is a time

Rarely talk about

By my uncles and aunts.

As most

Were too young

To remember

The horrors of Nazi rule

In The Nederland.

My dad was

One week short

Of his ninth birthday

When the Nazis surrendered

On May 5, 1945.

Liberation for the Dutch

And early birthday present

For him.

This Sunday

For Canada and the United States

We celebrate Father's Day

In honouring the men

Who had a positive impact

On our lives.

Whether or not

They have provided

Half of our DNA.

As I get older

I understand

The importance of Remembrance Day

With each passing year

We lost more of these veterans.

Every year

Until his 1998 death

My dad always honoured

Those men

That never came home

To their families.

One of the few times

I remember him

Showing strong emotions

Is November 11th.

And

The time

When I spoke

The unmentionable elephant

To my dad:

Oma has cancer.

Less than 2 months

Before she death

In June 1996.

I don't remember

If dad showed strong emotions

During Oma’s funeral

For which

I was a pallbearer.

Whereas

Opa’s sudden death

As my 14th birthday present

Was like dropping

An emotional tonne of bricks

On me.

For my dad and opa

Sunday is a day

Of thanks.

Honouring those memories

I hold precious

To my heart.

Of the two men

Taken too early

In my life.

Therisa © 2018