Sunday, June 24, 2007

A Visit to my Father’s Grave

The yellow haze hung in the air like an impending disaster. Above the haze even larger volumes of stormy clouds swirled around tenaciously. Slowly at first the drizzle came down, the kind they call Scotch mist. It saturates the clothing in a very short time and leaves you standing there freezing to the bone. From the edges of the undergrowth rose a cold damp mist that enshrouds and clings to everything. Visibility was at a minimum, making one feel like they were trapped inside a bottle or a drain like a drowned rat.

Slowly out of the murky depths emerged a figure, a small slight woman, holding the hand of a child. Hunched over against the cold and wet breeze she peered looking for something. Gradually, slowly, like ghostly apparitions, headstones emerged from the mist. Still my mother and I moved on seeking now we can presume, a particular grave. ~ I was four years old.

That is all I can remember about that visit other than eventually we arrived at a headstone. Then we just stood there in the cold misty rain, and my mother added a warming tear or two. That was the only visit I ever made to what I found out years later, was my fathers grave. Came the war, evacuation and I just forgot the road back.

All of this I have to say, has been brought about pure and simply because Julie contacted me, about tracing my families ancestry for her daughter.

One wonders in this exciting adventure, about the long and winding road.

To you Julie, I am forever indebted for this trip.

C’ya

16 comments:

drips of paint said...

Hi Eric

Very short piece of writing but cannot help but feel the emotional content of it. I am not a writer but I guess that is why it makes it more interesting for me - so many different style of writing on the blogging world.

Your last post Hawaii piece taste great.

I hope you are managing your illness well.

all the best

Shades said...

very well written Eric...
it touched me deep...

Anonymous said...

Hello Eric,

That was a very touching piece and I can’t help but be amazed at how you can remember so far back. It was short but it captured the moment really well.

Best of Luck, oh and thanks for the comment!!

Augs Casa said...

very touching mate. well written as always as usual, always sparking a memory of my own.

her's hoping this comment find you well mate.

Cheers

DarkWing said...

this is really good. I'm glad you remembered it!

Eric Valentine said...

Hi Paint, glad you dropped by, more so that you enjoyed my writing. Take care ~ as I am. visit again. :)

**
Thanks a lot Shades, much appreciated. :)

**
Lajyseh, thanks again for your kind words. :)

**
What can I say Augs. Here's to memories my good friend. :)

**
Thank you so much Newnorth. I am lucky to have been blessed with such a good memory. It has come in handy with this ancestry search that we are working on. :)

Margie said...

Hi Eric
I'm hoping you are having a good day so far!
Of-course it's still early there.
One never knows what the day may bring.
But, hoping nothing but good things come your way today!

This was a wonderful writing!
Very touching!

Thanks for sharing it Eric!
Take care, My Friend!
Be well!

Margie.

Stephanie said...

This one touched me deeply. Thanks for sharing it with us, Eric.

Eric Valentine said...

Hi Margie, nice to see you again. The day has been a good one and a beehive of activity.

My thanks for your wonderful words over my story, I am so glad you enjoyed it. Do take care and we hope to see you writing again soon. :)

Eric Valentine said...

Stephenie, it's always so nice to receive your visits.

I am quite pleased that my writing has been able to reach through to you & others. It really gives me great satisfaction & a sense of achievement.

Elizabeth said to say Hi! :)

Blue Gardenia said...

A very stirring memory. I got chills just groping through the mist with you as a boy! I hope the COPD gets better with this bad weather. I have asthma(among other things) and can identify with your breathing problems.

Eric Valentine said...

Thank you so much BG, it is good to see you in circulation, my friend.

Memories and misty weather like that can stay with a person that's for sure. It is a cold dreary walk, thanks for your company. :)

Singing Stream said...

Your very very best writing comes from the deepest part of you Eric. ((((Hugs)))) Beautiful piece. ((((Elizabeth))))

Namaste' my friends...

antonior said...

Hello, Eric!
My time is short and cahotic, so it is impossible to visit the blogs so much as I would like. I came now and I discovered that your health is not so well as it should be. I trully wish you will recover very soon. About the emotional story you tell us here, I have a special relation with graves and I don´t have mother or father alive today. One day, maybe I will tell 'bout. Anyway I believe that when the moment is important and deeply emotional we can remember it while we live. I remember things about when I was 3 years old and todai I'm 54.

Greetings

Eric Valentine said...

Singing Stream, a visit from you is as always a welcome treat. Thank you for your kind words my friend. :)

(((backatcha)))

Eric Valentine said...

It is so good to see you here again Antonior. I recognize that it is always difficult to visit everyone as much as one would like, but we do our best my friend. I am doing well these days and one can but hope for days ahead. We all touch on matters of the grave sometime in our life. I look forward to hearimg your stories.

Take care Antonior.