I Saw Through My Father's Eyes

(true story)

Perhaps because I am midstream in suing my late father's nursing home for their grievous neglect of him and my emotions are tangled in the lines of the ship of retribution that I sail, I cannot yet speak of the circumstances in which my father passed. But I was in the hospital emergency room with him when he began his transition from this life to the Great Beyond. He would not lay down for the nursing attendants, he did not even hear them, he sat bolt upright, gazing intently into his future, and I took his hand to steady him if I could. What I saw then still brings tears of amazement and gratitude to God to my eyes. I saw through my father's eyes the bright, happy faces coming to greet him, strangers to me but my father knew them and welcomed them close. He saw my face amongst the faces but he shook his head because it was not my time to go. I stepped back as my father meet those celestial faces with childlike wonder and joy.

Dear God, may my own passing be as gentle.

Caption: When He Passed I Saw Through My Father's Eyes.

by Annmarie Throckmorton 2019

(concept is framed with old-fashioned photo album corners)