Dad passed away on September 15, 2007 after a very courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. With Mom's loving care, he was able to remain at home up until the last 10 days and we were all there when he left us to carry on his journey aboard another train.
He worked for the railway most of his business life (as did his father) and thus all the references to trains. (His great-grandson is carrying on the tradition with his love of all things "train".)
Before he passed away, he was most fortunate to have the opportunity to record some of his thoughts and reflections about his life on a video that we could all share. It can be both emotional and comforting to see and hear him speak about his life and we are all very lucky to have this memorial.
He provides us with some tidbits of wisdom during the course of this video but none can be greater than the recital of a poem he came across years ago and he tried his best to live by, especially in his last few months of life "on this planet earth". It goes like this:
The Train of Life
Some folks ride the train of life
Looking out the rear
Watching miles of life go rolling by
And marking every year
They sit in sad remembrance
Of wasted days gone by
And curse their life for what it was
And hang their heads and cry
Let's not concern ourselves with that
But take a different vent
Look forward to what life may hold
And not what has been spent
So strap me to the engine
As securely as can be
I want to be out front
And see what I can see
I want to feel the winds of change
Blowing in my face
I want to see what life unfolds
As I move from place to place
I want to see what's coming up
Not looking at the past
Life's too darn short for yesterdays
It moves along too fast
So if the ride gets bumpy
While you were looking back
Go way up front and you may find
Life has jumped the track
It's alright to remember
It's all a part of history
But up front is where it's happening
There is just so much mystery
The great enjoyment of living
Is not dwelling on what we've been
It's always looking forward
And forever being keen
It's searching all the byways
Never should we refrain
For if we want to live a life
We've got to drive the train
There may be times when this advise will be hard to follow but, hopefully, we can all use it at times.
We miss you, Dad
