A Dad and His Dad

(Links of Love in a Chain of Remembering)

Looking back with love, and sweet peaceful longing,
Into the long ago past,
We discover anew what he did and what he saw --
And what will last.

And "what will last" are gentle thoughts and warm feelings,
Of all that he loved;
Links that connect us all in a 'chain of remembering' -
Of those that have gone 'back home' above.

Grandfathers long gone, and new ones becoming, may not have met
Here on this earth,
But will meet once again one day in the distant future -- in a glorious reunion
And look back on our birth.

We'll get to know each other once again, and muse about the trials and struggles
We faced.
Father and son and son; we'll look back and speak of what we learned
In this place.

That dealing with all the struggles and all the trials and the pain
And yes, some loneliness,
Makes the deep burning reunion
All the more glorious.

Dads introducing their Sons to their Fathers that have helped to make them
What they have become.
With the deepest of satisfactions, all of us Dads will see
How each of us Fathers was once a Son.

Scott Vanatter, 14 August 2004 (Poem for Dad, and his Dad)