Thanksgiving-Those

My Dear Rishi,

I enjoyed talking to you for about forty minutes on the weekend. You were laughing and making funny noises. Every time I hear your voice, your laughter it sustains me till the next time I get to talk to you.

 

Honey

 



Yesterday was thanksgiving in Canada. Honey and I spent time together. Once again I missed you, love! This thanksgiving, despite my personal loss. I have chosen to be thankful to what "is" in my life. Although you are so far away and I miss you very much, I am thankful for the fact that you are well taken care of, you are loved and you have family around you. Rishi, as a parent it is natural to expect to be with their children and be part of their growing up experience. However, it is much more important for a parent in my situation is to be is thankful that their children or child is loved, cared for and are safe. As a father, I need to go beyond my own emotional need and look at life from your need and your perspective as you are the future and I am the past. I am grateful and thankful that every time we talk you tell me I love you daddy...Thank you Rishi :)

 



Honey

Today's poem is from a book called Live Your Dash By Linda Ellis. The title of poem is "THOSE"

 

Those

By Linda Ellis

 

I write, not for those thankful

for an abundance of wealth,

for whom good fortune has blessed

their home and their health;

 

those who walk golden pathways

towards means and success...

a safe distance apart

from those who have less,

 

but instead for the people

who can see those with more

and still humbly count blessings

for which they are thankful for;

 

those whose journey through life

has been far from the best,

yet consider themselves

nonetheless, blessed;

 

those whose open hearts give

without asking why;

those who freely share water

when their own well is dry;

 

those who view neighbors' riches

with no envy or greed,

nor resent them for having

much more than they need.

 

Let us solemnly promise

a day shall not close

without being grateful

and thankful for Those....

 

Rishi, my personal view on gratitude and being thankful begins from the minute I open my eyes. If I can get up from my bed in the morning, I am grateful and thankful to the universe that I have a roof above my head and a bed to sleep. I am grateful and thankful for Honey's presence in my life. I am thankful and grateful for the fact that I am able to walk, talk and do my things. I am thankful and grateful for the fact that I have  love, good health, enough money to sustain myself and do things I like and more. I can go on and on about things I am thankful and grateful for. Rishi, I choose to live a life of GRATITUDE. In, "Conversations with God" author Neale Donald Walsch wrties, "The correct prayer is not prayer of supplication but prayer of GRATITUDE...". I hope, pray and wish you live a life of GRATITUDE and not a life of supplication.

 

I love you Rishi!!

 

With lots of love, hugs and kisses

 

Love,

Daddy

 



 

The Dash

My Dear Rishi,

We could not talk last week for more than 15 seconds. Hope we can talk for bit longer this coming weekend.

I came across the following poem in 1998, it changed my life and gave me a whole new perspective in life. Hope it may also help you too some day.

The Dash

by Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone,
from the beginning…to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth
and spoke of the following date with tears,but he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
that she spent alive on earth.
And now only those who loved her
know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own,
the cars…the house…the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our dash.

So, think about this long and hard.
Are there things you’d like to change?For you never know how much time is left
that can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough
to consider what’s true and realand always try to understand
the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger
and show appreciation more
and love the people in our lives
like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect
and more often wear a smile,remembering that this special dash
might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy is being read,
with your life’s actions to rehash…
would you be proud of the things they say
about how you spent YOUR DASH?

Rishi, we all have choice how we can fill our "DASH" in that lies our freedom. Hope,your DASH is filled with love, light, compassion, joy,kindness and understanding.

I love you and miss you very much.

With lots of love, hugs and kisses,

Daddy

The Contract

My Dear Rishi,

It was fantastic to hear your voice for very very brief three minutes past weekend. I called you back as you requested on Sunday but no one answered the phone.

Rishi, as I write this letter, I reflect back to the day five years back today.  We both have come long way since than. Never in million years I ever anticipated this is how a child and father will be separated. Every child has the right to be with his or her parents and receive the love, support  from them.  In spite of everything I am grateful for life that that you are in this world, happy, growing up with love and care. God bless you son, I love you and will always miss you.

I came across a very beautiful poem today. The poem is by Linda Ellis and it is called the Contract. As I read this poem I understand why I am still here, what is keeping me going, what is sustaining from within when all else has fallen apart. I was there when you took the first breath in this world, when you first opened your eyes in this world and looked right into my eyes love.  Hope one day you read this poem and understand the essence of this poem what it means.

The Contract

By Linda Ellis.

When you breathed into your lungs

that first independent birth,

you signed an invisible contract

breached only upon death.

You made a subconscious promise

when you entered this earth

to cherish this life

and realize its worth.

This contract never expires,

and it never renews;

it has no small print or jargon

to daze and confuse.

An alliance, a marriage,

not of a husband and a wife--

but a union of yourself

and a brief and precious life.

A simple commitment in a pact,

very uncomplicated

Details of the terms are:

Agreement as Stated:

You've been blessed with existence--

an amazing creation.

Living life to the fullest

is your sole obligation.

Are you fulfilling your contract,

your promise, your vow

by inhabiting moments

of your here and your now?

Or.....

Are you often discouraged,

downcast, disenchanted?

Do you forget to count your blessings

and take life for granted?

When you find yourself there,

remember and think

of the contract you "signed"

in a permanent ink:

You've been blessed with existence--

an amazing creation

Living life to the fullest

is your sole obligation

Rishi, as I re-read this poem few times and as I typed this here again, all I could think of the time you were born and I was holding you love. I love you very much and miss you ....

God bless you son...

With lots of love and kisses,

Daddy