My dad was killed in an auto vs. bicycle accident on April 7, 1991. It was tragic and it affected my life and my families lives in so many ways there just isn't enough space here to talk about how his death changed our lives. Anyway, in the months leading up to his death, my dad was working in California for the cabinetry and carpentry company that he worked for, they had landed a contract that required that they send some of the guys out to complete the work. My birthday is November 5th, he was going to be gone at that time, but he was going to be back around Thanksgiving. My mom took me to dinner at Imperial Chinese restaurant here in Denver, one of my favorite places,(they have the best Seafood Bird's nest, I don't think anyone else serves this), it's one memory of my birthday's that sticks out, it was my 15th birthday and I had a great time with my mom. This birthday doesn't just stick out because of the dinner, spending time with my mom; it'll always stick out because when my dad came back into town he brought me a present, "The Best Loved Poems of the American People" selected by Hazel Felleman. I loved reading and was really into poetry at the time and he had found the book at a bookstore close to where he was staying in Los Angeles. I loved the book, not only because of the amazing poems it had in it, but because he knew me well enough to know that it would become one of my favorite possessions. This book has gone one trips with me, moved with me when I moved out and to four different apartments/houses and has become well worn and loved.
When my dad gave me the book he had marked a few poems he thought that I would like his favorite that he had read was "The Ship" by Charles Mackay. It's about death, and I've always found it odd that this was one of the poems that he was reading just months before his death, he was also reading "Go to the Widow Maker" by James Jones, about a playwright who becomes obsessed with deep-sea diving, odd coincidences, but interesting enough to make you 'hmm". My dad loved warm climates, was a professional bicyclist (even though to him it was probably just a hobby, he was a professional bicyclist, he was in quite a few races and rode with a few teams here in Colorado), a carpenter, a harmonica player, an avid Jimmy Buffet fan and dad who made certain his kids knew he was there for them any time they needed him. He was a really great guy. He made my childhood, and my sister and brother's a lot of fun, we have a lot of memories, for that I'm grateful. It was as Jimmy Buffet said "I'm sorry it's ended/It's sad but it's true/Honey it's been a lovely cruise".
"The Ship"
by Charles Mackay
A King, a pope, and a kaiser,
And a queen -most fair was she-
Went sailing, sailing, sailing,
Over a sunny sea.
And amid them sat a beggar,
A churl of low degree;
And they all went sailing, sailing,
Over the sunny sea.
And the king said to the kaiser,
And his comrades fair and free,
"Let us turn adrift this beggar,
This Churl of low degree,
For he taints the balmy odors
That blow to you and me,
As we travel -sailing, sailing,
Over the sunny sea."
"The ship is mine," said the beggar-
That churl of low degree-
"And we're all of us sailing, sailing,
To the grave o'er the sunny sea;
And you may not and cannot
Get rid of mine, or me;
No! not for your crowns and scepters-
And my name is Death!" quoth he.
