My Father Loved the Sea

The sea swelled and receded with each breath.

The same blue sea that was forever on his horizon.

The same blue sea that gave him hope for one more dip.

And the same blue sea that called to me after he was gone.

Just breathe.

Anticipating its first bite of cold, I briskly waded my way through the current and submerged beneath its surface. His spirit washed over me in a wave of salt water. And held me like he did when I was a child.

The chill revived my spirit as it took hold, lifting my head to the surface and casting my face toward the sun.

My gaze settling on the horizon.

Dad?

His bright blue eyes lit up as they always had in my reflection, the same color as water. His giant grin glimmering across the sea with the sun, endlessly.

This is it, Dad. We’re here. We’re FINALLY here. Isn’t it something?

It sure is, Sheen.

Here he was, all around me. Always in adventure, in sunshine, in the ocean—the things we had bonded over time and time again.

But not enough time.

His love of it all, insatiable, like the sea.

All my grief and vitality merged as one unfolding in the rhythmic exhalation of those waves… in and out.

So, I set out into the sea, it calls my name. And I call his…

I love you, Pops.