Teen Ink

'i can still see you smiling"

As a child I was relatively happy .I was exceedingly close to my father. What can I say that goofy man was my hero. We spent years in the back yard of our home in Vermont telling each other secrets and watching the New England sun sets. My mother had called us her, boys her inseparable duo. And it was true I can’t remember a single day not spent with him. On a breezy summer afternoon we took a trip to Hampton beach. I particularly loved the ocean. Perhaps it was the one-on-one time spent with dear old dad. Or the sensation of freedom you get from time away from rules and chaos. We sat down on the sand eating our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in silence watching the clouds. “Johnny boy” he turned to me. “I love you”. A feeling of serenity washed over me. “I know dad”. He sat back digging his bare toes into the cool sand. He down at me a grin plastered on his face. His smile washed away suddenly and he became serious. “There’s going to be…” he took a breath and continued “there’s going to be a time son when you will grow up and I will no longer be with you. I turned away not wanting to think of such a ghastly thing. I looked up to him looking into his eyes now. They held a purity that I have never seem before a purity that I yearned to obtain as well. “daddy” I whispered softly. “I can still see you smiling”
It matters not that Time has shed
His thawless snow upon your head,
For he maintains, with wondrous art,
Perpetual summer in your heart.
William Hamilton Hayne