the Parts of Me

How else would I have learned to be a patient man?  I had to learn to turn the pages of life at someone else’s pace. You taught me to think of others first and to make the decisions of life with careful deliberation.

How else would I have learned to dance without care? We would play together among watching eyes and dance to our own tunes. You would spin in circles while holding my hand as the world was only ours in that moment.

How else would I have learned to love another before myself? I felt complete as I watched you sleep… each breath was a continuation of my mortality. I longed to hold your hand and to see your smile. Nothing else mattered.

How else would I have learned humility? The pride of my youth was of no use to me when you shared your world with me. You taught me the lessons of life that I thought I needed to teach to you.

How else would I have learned to cry? I learned to feel the joys and the pains of others. It became a reflex that worked its way into my protective shell. You taught me to show the emotions of a caring father.

The parts of me that I claim as my own are not really mine at all. You have made me the man I am on the inside with the life experiences that you have given to me and the things you have taught me. That is what makes this Father's Day special to me…

                                                            Shannon R Killman