Still hearing his voice carrying me on

It's been 20 years since I said "goodbye" to the man who, with my mom, raised me. My dad, my father, my mentor, my hero in many ways. And on this father's day, I think of him fondly and with a deep sense of loss. I conversed with an old high school classmate today who lost his own dad recently. And I remembered the profound and searing pain on that first father's day without him. My own son and daughter will have that experience some day ... though hopefully not soon. To them I would say: a father's love never ends though his life does. Live the best life you can, love deeply, risk loss, help those you can, take care of yourself and put God first, family second. Namaste.

Still Learning from You

[Verse 1]

Twenty years of mornings I still reach for the phone

Forty years of living and I've never felt so grown

He came up out of Victor, she came from Pemberville

Two kids who found each other with a love that time can't kill

He ran the track at sunrise, threw the football in the fall

Shot buckets in the driveway when the snow began to fall

He swung a bat like thunder, man, he did it all with grace

And I see him every morning when I look my children's face

[Chorus]

I'm still learning from a man who's gone

Still hearing his voice carrying me on

I'm the father now, I'm holding down the line

Still grieving and still growing at the same damn time

Yeah, I'm still learning from a man who's gone

[Verse 2]

He found Jackie down in Bowling Green, Ohio long ago

A girl from Pemberville who made his whole world glow

He brought her back to New York, gave her everything he had

And Tracey, Todd — Lord, they knew it — they had one hell of a dad

They planted roots in Fairport, raised us kids on that canal street wind

Victor blood and Pemberville grace — Lord, what a way to begin

Now I'm rocking my own children when the nighttime gets too long

Trying to be the steady hand, the shelter and the song

[Chorus]

I'm still learning from a man who's gone

Still hearing his voice carrying me on

I'm the father now, I'm holding down the line

Still grieving and still growing at the same damn time

Yeah, I'm still learning from a man who's gone

[Bridge]

You were Victor, New York toughness

You were Pemberville romance

You were every field you played on

You were every fighting chance

And Fairport was your canvas

Where you painted what we'd be

And the man I'm still becoming

Is the dad you gave to me

Maybe that's the miracle

The way love doesn't end

It just gets passed down dirty hands

Down to your children's children

[Final Verse]

So I'll lace up in the morning like I watched him do before

I'll throw the ball with patience, I'll teach them what it's for

I'll show them Fairport winters build a backbone like no other

And that a real man loves his family the way his daddy loved his mother

I'll let them hear the stories till the stories feel like theirs

Of the man who ran those fast tracks and who answered all our prayers

And when they ask me who I learned from, I'll just smile and say his name

'Cause he's still right here beside me — yeah, he never really came

[Outro Chorus]

I'm still learning from a man who's gone

But he lives in every lesson, carries on and on

I'm the father now, I'm holding up the flame

Lord, I pray I make him proud when they call out my name

Yeah, I'm still learning from a man who's gone

Still learning — still learning — still learning from a man who's gone.

This is original work is produced by AK Darvinson with a combination of observation, critical thinking, insight, heart, compassion, passion, creativity, and technology. All rights are reserved. Free sharing is encouraged. Commercial use via license only.