Dad's sweet pathway home

On my way to work in the early morning hours of the 7th of April my mind was focused on the fact that I knew my dad was about to take his leave of this earth and it was only a matter of time before I received the phone call from my sister verifying what we were all dreading.  I looked at the sky as I always do at a certain point of my drive and looked away distracted but slowly looked again at the sunrise that had broken across the sky.

I have never seen a sunrise quite like that one; the colors were intense, so crisp, so brilliant, so yellow, so blue, clouds so white and full of volume....yet it was so light and so incredibly soft, so soft that it reminded me of a sweet, soft........receiving blanket.   Yes, a receiving blanket,,,and I knew in that moment, this was my Father's sky sent by his Father, the Almighty Father, to welcome dad home.  My breath caught in my throat and tears flooded my eyes and I wanted to take a picture...but I knew that I was not supposed to...I was supposed to just see and know.  It was a gift given to me.

I made it to work just a few minutes later and waited for my sister's phone call...it came very quickly, no surprise.

I will miss him, I will always love him, he was a good dad and a good friend and I will always be grateful for and cherish my glimpse of his homecoming sky.   

Morning in theHigh Hills 

In the quiet of the morning
     when the sky is clear and white
and dawn's soft hush has slipped
     across the solitude of night,
When the last pale star has fallen
     and the East’s a rosy glow,
          streaked with lavenders and orchids
               with a touch of indigo.

When the colors all are blending,
     there is no defining each,
And the sun peeps up appearing
Like some plump and pinkish peach,
There is nothing quite so moving,
     quite so silent, quite so strange
          as the Lord's most recent wonder—
               birth of morning on the range.

I can't quite seem to fathom—
     I can't help wondering why—
I was placed amongst such beauty,
     all this solitude and sky.
Now, I see you ride before me,
          as my feet trod earthly sod,
I watch you vanish in the sunrise.
          Go with God!

© 1993, Dee Strickland Johnson, revised 2007

      Dee Strickland Johnson gives permission for the use of this poem for a personal ceremony.
      Please give the author credit when reciting or printing this poem