My dad has a million talents and traits I wish I inherited: extreme patience (he was forced into that one with me as a teenager), compassion, hard-working, honest, reliable, out-going, intelligence, and the list could go on and on. However one trait that tops my list is his ability to arrange words to describe exactly how his soul his feeling. He is a phenomenal poet and through his words it's like you can see into his soul. Growing up my dad would write songs and poems for every occasion. In the past, my favorite song or poem he has written was Our Christmas. There are multiple verses to this song, some funny, some serious. This song is (or was) a perfect description of our little families thoughts on Christmas. I try to be like my Dad and write poems to express my feelings, but they will never trump the beauty of his words.

A couple days after Isla was born, when I was in the deepest darkest sadness I have experienced, I logged onto Facebook to find my dad's latest piece:

Isla Jean

Isla Jean sweet Isla Jean

How you pull on my heart's string

Though I've never seen your face

Just pixels bright from a distant place

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isla Jean sweet Isla Jean

I yearn to hear your voice sing

The sound of simple infant cries

So I can sing you lullabies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isla Jean sweet Isla Jean

What gifts from heaven do you bring?

Mere moments from our Fathers home

You bring to us His love bestowed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isla Jean sweet Isla Jean

To hold you close is what I dream

l cannot wait to feel your charm

All snuggled in your grandpa's arms