Evening Prayer

By Nancy Prouty March

 Try to imagine all the things

 That your  father did for you when you

 were an infant, and then a toddler

 and then a young child, 

and which you cannot remember 

because you were so young, 

and which you may never discover,

 and which even they may have

 even forgotten about. 

Perhaps you will never know all of the things

He did for you—

Changed your diapers,

Kissed you each night

Hugged you and said, “I love you.”

Was your baseball coach,

The one who took you to the mountains

To learn to ski, for lessons, time to spend together

Stood in the cold, proud as you flew

Down the slope and said,

“He’s a really good skier.”

He flew you to Tahoe

A father and son adventure.

He learn to ride a horse and 

Take you for lessons.

Rarely missed a scout meeting

Camped in the winter, on ships, 

And made shelters to keep you warm.

Stood up straight & proud when

You received your Eagle Scout award.

Taught you to drive,

Trusted you to have a motorcycle

Took you to Americade 

Another father & son adventure.

He stayed awake pacing evenings

When he was afraid for you

And the choices you were making.

He helped you make a plan to hike 

The Appalachian trail.

He packed boxes, thoughtful of every item

He worried each night about his boy

Alone in the dark.

He traveled South to meet up with him

Gave him a room, shower, a few laughs.

Memories for a father & son adventure.

He would leave him on the trail with a

Strong firm hug and a few bucks!

He sat in the front row of church

Smiling and proud of his son when he said,

“I do!”

He helped him buy his first home,

Fix broken this and that.

When you needed help he was

Always there.

He wept when he saw you

Hold your first born son.

It was truly a family something

That eluded him as a child –

Here was his son, a man, a father.

He held that little grandson of his

And that day love bloomed.

Being a grandfather changed his life.

All his life he searched

for that rapture he feels

each time he holds your son.

t