When Tom Waters Died...

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I wasn't there.

It was 1978 and I was about to turn 18 and living in Florida away from the home I was raised in.  A brother had called and informed me it was time to come home, Dad was dying, he was near death...

Tom Waters was in his death bed.

I arrived at the airport in Ohio that night, my oldest brother Tom, was there to pick me up.  He greeted me with, "Dad's dead."

I wasn't there...

Many things rang back through my mind concerning Dad and over the years, no, decades, I was able to grieve.  It wasn't easy.

Lyrics from Mike & the Mechanics song, "In the living years," apply -

Every generation blames the one before
And all of their frustrations
Come beating on your door
I know that I'm a prisoner
To all my father held so dear
I know that I'm a hostage
To all his hopes and fears
I just wish I could have told him
In the living years
More crumpled bits of paper
Filled with imperfect thought
Stilted conversations
I'm afraid that's all we've got
You say you just don't see it
He says it's perfect sense
You just can't get agreement
In this present tense
We all talk a different language
Talking in defense

CHORUS
Say it loud
Say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye

So we open up a quarrel
Between the present and the past
We only sacrifice the future
It's the bitterness that lasts
So don't yield to the fortunes
You sometimes see as fate
It may have a new perspective
On a different day
And if you don't give up
And don't give in
You may just be O.K.
CHORUS
I wasn't there that morning
When my father passed away
I didn't get to tell him
All the things I had to say
I think I caught his spirit
Later that same year
I'm sure I heard his echo
In my baby's new born tears
I just wish I could have told him
In the living years

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I'm sitting here watching Oprah.  She's always been about recognizing opportunities.  Having the aha moment and learning the lesson.  Being in the moment.  Being authentic and being the best you.  Having Full Circle events in our life.

Times changed.  Lives drifted...

apart.

The emails came.  The condition was worsening.  For the oldest of a new generation, the end was near.

I arranged travel for Mama and met her at the same airport in Ohio.  We went to the hospital.

Lucid conversation, eye contact, direct questions... understanding.

The past, the distance, faded...

We made it to the hospital again the next day.  Life was slipping away...

Hospice was called in.

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When Tom Waters died...

I was there.