Today was a somber day. I went to the funeral of my co-worker's husband. He was only 45 and she is a widow at 44. The thing that got to me was that the daughter he left behind is 15, just 3 years older than I was when I lost Sarge. It was from the same disease as well . Cirrhosis of the liver, a very vicious ailment that takes lives. I think that is why it hit me so hard. I remembered Sarge and I was back to being that 12 year old that didn't understand why this had happened. I could explain it in a concrete manner, but never as an emotional entity.
I had some great moments with Sarge in the brief 12 years I had him. Sarge was able to share a lot with me then, even as a child he never spoke to me as if I was a child. He was my best friend in the whole world. Not a lot of people can say that about a father. I somehow have felt along the way that I was never really able to completely full fill that relationship with him as an adult. I was a pretty bright child, but still the complexities that are of an adult certainly are a vast difference. Mami would tell me stories of him that I never knew and sometimes I can connect with him as an adult that way. I still have emptiness in that department. What was Sarge really like? I mean besides all the nice things that people say about him, I would like to have known his real thoughts, fears, anxieties. Even the things that may not have been so nice about him, I wanted to know. Mami has saved some things of his in the garage, so I went snooping one day. I found a poem that he wrote about his fears of impending death and how that would affect me and Mami. It was eye opening and I searched for more.
Finding these notes in his own writing always made me feel comforted, closer, connected to Sarge. I thought so much of him when I was pregnant with Thing One and Thing Two. I even thought of my own mortality and how much that would effect the Things. What if it happened early and they were young? Would they know me? Do I want them to know me? What should I say to them? How do I go about it?
Journal writing has always been a comfort for me so I figured these would be left for them to know me. I have things I wrote right after Sarge passed, boy crushes, first kisses, depression, happiness, marriage, infertility problems, miscarriage, fights, boyfriends, divorce, broken hearts, anger. Should I censor it? I don't think so. I want them to know I had flaws and I made mistakes. I want them to know I was loving and crazy. I want them to know that I was a human being and I loved them like no one else in this world and that I feared some days more than others for them.
I think it's important for me to let them know that they too will make mistakes and I will understand them, no matter what distance we have between them. Whether that be miles or dimensions.
For my two babies, Mommy wrote you a letter when she was pregnant with you to open on your 18th birthday. If I am no longer with you, please make sure to read it and do the same with your children. You will never know the day you will want to know all about your parents.
Love Notes are forever. :)
