I wrote this poem in 1988 for Father’s Day. It’s still the best present I ever came up with for Father’s Day, or probably ever will. I was taking a creative writing class in college when I wrote it. The professor loved the poem but marked a note in the margins that the father of a young girl wouldn’t have silver hair. Ha, he didn’t know MY father! My father has kept this framed nearby where he can see it ever since 1988. I should really just give up on Father’s Day presents since I’ll never top this, but this year I sent him a pie and a basket from Harry & David. Definitely not nearly as good. The poem expresses, exactly, what happened every day after my father came home from work, down to the exact words we must have said a million times.
Echoes of Daddy and Me
Wintry air blustered in with the slam,
behind the silver-haired man
who grabbed at the whirl
of a brown-haired girl
as she rushed by
with a little girl gust.“How much do you love me?” he said,
kissing the tousled head
as he sat in his chair,
putting her there,
where she cried,
“Daddy, I want to play.”Her short, stubby arms stopped flailing,
her lips upward sailing,
as she joined in the game,
always the same,
and giggled and
hugged her daddy.“I love you this much,” she tried,
flinging her arms out wide,
But daddy shook no,
groaning out low,
“Tell me how much
you love me.”“A bushel,” she cried, “and a peck,
and a hug ’round daddy’s neck.”
Then with a smug little grin
and a slide down his shin
she leapt up
and danced away.For my daddy with love, 1988
P.S. I have a piece at Romancing the Blog today.
Margery Scott says:
Aww, Suzanne. I’m tearing up. That’s so sweet. You’ll never top that one.
On June 19, 2005 at 6:21 am
Katie says:
Why even try to top it? Maybe a new frame…:love:
On June 19, 2005 at 7:20 am
Crystal* says:
That’s absolutely lovely. Words from the heart are always the best gift.
Grins*
On June 19, 2005 at 7:49 am
Michelle says:
I think yours is much better than a card I made for my father when I was eight. I had just learned how to do pop-up pictures and I made a pop-up of a fat little duck on the inside of the card. It read: Happy Father’s Day…to the big one in the family! :shocked:
What was I thinking???
On June 19, 2005 at 7:55 am
kacey says:
Wow, you should just give up Suzanne. You’ll never top that!! What a cool gift.
On June 19, 2005 at 8:28 am
Carol says:
That is a beautiful poem and a lovely picture! :yes: My father had silver hair too when I was a little girl. He was in his early thirties and went gray early and I did too! 😥
On June 19, 2005 at 8:47 am
Melissa says:
Your poem is very touching Suz. It made me tear up too. I also used to quote the ” bushel and a peck” saying with both my parents. My father will be 81 this year…
I’ve gotta go call him NOW!
On June 19, 2005 at 9:07 am
Robyn says:
That is such a nice poem and remembrance for your father. A lovely gift!:smile:
On June 19, 2005 at 9:12 am
Mary says:
I’ve thought it a million times, said it a thousand: “You are so talented.”
Happy Father’s Day.
On June 19, 2005 at 9:18 am
Joely says:
What a wonderful poem! I’m feeling weepy.
On June 19, 2005 at 9:24 am
Cheryl S. says:
Suzanne, that is so beautiful. What a priceless gift your father received that year! :yes:
On June 19, 2005 at 9:37 am
mary beth says:
You’re right. You’re not going to top this. What a wonderful tribute to your dad.
On June 19, 2005 at 10:31 am
Tori says:
That’s wonderful, Suzanne!!!
On June 19, 2005 at 11:53 am
Beth C says:
I can’t see what I’m typing clearly because of the tears in my eyes. Must. Go. 😕
On June 19, 2005 at 12:08 pm
Kelly says:
Very sweet, Suzanne. Thank you for sharing!
On June 19, 2005 at 12:15 pm
Jill says:
Very beautiful.
On June 19, 2005 at 12:20 pm
Maureen says:
Very sweet. Hope you and yours have a wonderful day.
On June 19, 2005 at 12:24 pm
Alyssa says:
That’s a sweet poem. And what an adorable picture!
🙂
Alyssa
On June 19, 2005 at 1:09 pm
Lynn says:
I love this poem, Suzanne. It’s such a visual piece…I can see the whole thing in action!
Here’s an idea for next Father’s Day. My grandfather, who passed in 1977, used to write poetry. One day he made an offhand comment to my father about somebody someday immortalizing his poetry with a plaque. Three years ago (too late for my grandfather to see, unfortunately), my father took his two favorite poems written by my grandfather and had them engraved onto plaques. He has a set, my aunt had a set, I have a set, and my brother and sister both have sets. They hang in a place of honor in my bedroom, and every day I stop and read how my grandfather expressed in prose what it felt like to him the first time he approached his grandparents’ house in Ireland.
They’re my treasures.
On June 19, 2005 at 1:28 pm
Amy K. says:
How sweet. I bet he loved it then and still loves it today. 🙂
On June 19, 2005 at 2:13 pm
Mary Stella says:
Beautiful, Suzanne. Absolutely beautiful!:cry:
On June 19, 2005 at 9:17 pm
Kim Cresswell says:
A beauiful poem, Suzanne.:cry: What a wonderful tribute to your father.
On June 19, 2005 at 9:36 pm
Kim says:
ahhh Suzanne, that is the best gift you could have thought of. I bet he is so proud of all you’ve accomplished. Glad I stopped by today to see it.
On June 19, 2005 at 10:10 pm
Marcy says:
That was so sweet, Suzanne. :heart:
On June 19, 2005 at 10:42 pm
ruby55 says:
Suzanne, you really made my fatherless Father’s Day. That is such a wonderful poem. My father and I have always had difficulties expressing emotions. The closest he probably would have come to something like this was when my brother opened his photography studio. There he gave my mother a beautiful picture of a wooded scene, not terribly sweet of itself, but as he sees life with brambles and branches across the way but with the light of the rising sun at the end of the little track. He thanked my mother and father for their encouragement and the love of photography that my father had passed on to him. The sad part: my father had died several years before. My mother died almost two years ago, a little more than 20 years after my father.
It’s truly what we give of ourselves that makes the best gifts. Unfortunately, not all of us are talented and imaginative enough to come up with something meaningful.
You did–in spades. Wonderful!:guitar:
On June 19, 2005 at 10:48 pm
Lis says:
Beautiful poem Suzanne!!! Definitely gave me misty eyes.
What a cute picture too 🙂
On June 20, 2005 at 2:53 am
Teresa H says:
That was a beautiful poem Suzanne! Thanks for sharing:smile:
On June 20, 2005 at 3:00 am
Trace says:
Aaaaw lovely poem. Very sweet.
On June 20, 2005 at 11:48 am
Melissa Marsh says:
What a wonderful poem, Suzanne. It would be very hard to top that Father’s Day present! I was born on Father’s Day, so I was my dad’s present that year! 😉
On June 21, 2005 at 10:47 am