Saturday, August 21, 2010

dad

John L. Austin
June 21, 1921 - August 17, 2010

a farm boy when they farmed with horses
started the stove at the one-room school house
before doing his chores on the farm

chose the army and crossed the atlantic
world war 2; across north africa to tripoli,
to sicily, mainland italy; signal corps

stayed on after war's end
project after project; some hush-hush
traveled the states and the world

didn't talk much about those years
pulling teeth to get him to say the names
of places and what he did and what he thought

My brother said: doing his job
not bragging about what he did
sacrifices made; just what a soldier did

a long life; a good life
on his terms to the last day
then, mom on the phone

when i say sleep tight, tells me
"there will be arms around me
i won't see them; but i know they're there."

8 comments:

Tim said...

Sorry to hear that a good man is gone.

Tapia said...

Rose,
I am so sorry for your loss. I hope love and happy memories carry you through your grief.

Charlotte said...

Oh, his arms are there!

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Richard said...

My heart goes out to you and your family.

Wonderful words you wrote.

corinne said...

Rose ~ beautiful words. I hope that you, your mom, and your siblings are smiling, too, as you remember life with your dad. ~corinne

Unknown said...

Nicely said, Rose. And I'm glad to have "found" your blog!

bikegirl said...

thank you, friends.

Anonymous said...

Sorry for your loss.