Happy Memorial Day... Dad by Shiloh

Hey! It’s Memorial Day, Dad!
And, since you were a veteran and all,
it’s appropriate that I remember you.
Right?
I guess I could have done this for
Father’s Day...
but then, you never were
very good at being a father.
I think we would both agree
that you weren’t what you would call
a father.
But that never bothered you much,
did it?
Just as long as you had your bottle
of cheap bourbon,
you were happy.
No one else was, but you were.
Memorial Day is a day of remembrance...
and boy, do I ever remember you.
I remember how you used to belittle me
by calling me names,
telling me that I wasn’t supposed to have
been born - I was a mistake.
Slapping me upside the head as you passed,
“..just for practice,” you said,
when I asked why you hit me.
When I went to school on a Monday,
back in the fifties,
my teacher would ask,
“What happened to you?”
Then she would remember...
“Oh, you’re that soldier’s boy, aren’t you?”
and that explained how I looked.
They didn’t have laws back then,
like they do today.
I remember you,
inspecting my room on Saturday morning,
before I was allowed to go outside.
I remember you,
swearing and swinging at me because I was handy,
when you were half-blind drunk and
mad at the world and at yourself.
I remember you,
making me so afraid of you,
that I would go hide out in the woods
all night long, at the age of eleven.
I remember you,
too many times,
in ways no son should ever
remember his father.
But we’ve already covered
the thought about being a father,
haven’t we?
You never took my hand to walk me
across the street.
You never looked at me
with love in your expression.
Hell, you never said you loved me!
Never a kiss, a hug, not even
a word of encouragement.
You didn’t even say goodbye
when I went into the Army at seventeen,
because I wanted to get away from you
and the life you made me live.

So.... Happy Memorial Day,... dad.
I hope you’re rolling
in the hottest fires of Hell.
Now I’m going to try to forget you.

Luke (74.202.86.132) -- Tuesday, May 29 2007, 12:53 pm

Dad
Dad, just wanted to let ya know after reading this.. that nobody could ask for a better father than you, you honestly have done alot, not just the encouragment or the hugs, or the smiles.. but mean more to josh, zach and I than you could ever imagine.. you honestly hold a lot on your plate because of your father, but know that the father that raised me was a good one, and a loving compassionate one, that taught right from wrong, that let me know when i did good, that showed me the love of a father. I'll always remember working in the card shop, and looking up prices for cards, and talking about whatever , and always remember how much you did for me, dont ever forget that you did a good job raising your children and you did a great job being a dad, I love you dad.

Luke

Dennis (64.12.116.210) -- Saturday, July 28 2007, 01:51 am

see?
Abused, mistreated, un-loved. You can pass this on, or, as with you, you do the 180 and show the world how it was meant to be.

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