he, our boat on the Seine

My Father | This Mortal Coil (original lyrics by Judy Collins)

My father always promised me that we would live in France
We'd go boating on the Seine
and I would learn to dance
We lived in Ohio then
He worked in the mines
All his dreams, like boats
we knew we'd sail in time.

My sisters all grew up and went away
to Denver and Cheyenne
Marrying their grown up dreams
the lilacs and the man
I stayed behind, the youngest still
Only danced alone
Hoping, hoping that
My father's dreams would someday take me home

I live in Paris now, my children dance and dream
Hearing the ways of a miner's life
In words they've never seen
I sail my memories of home
Like boats across the Seine
And watch my father's eyes
watching the setting sun
set in my father's eyes again.

My dad wasn't a miner, but he was a mechanical engineer, the only one in his family to earn a university degree. He along with Nanay ('mom' in Tagalog) instilled in us the value of education, they believed it opened doors, created possibilities. So, like boats on the Seine, they brought us here to the U.S. It wasn't easy. There were 9 of us total, I the youngest. We grew up, got married and raised families, bickered, argued, held grudges, celebrated whenever we got reunited, resumed our connectedness, watched each others' backs, saw our own kids, my nieces and nephews, grow and mature.

But through all these decades we remained close knit, no matter how dysfunctionally so, and no matter how far we ventured on geographically for work, school, and home. Through it all my father was the anchor, always there for us, always asking if we needed money or whatever other help was within his power. A resolute anchor, grounding the family, remaining central to us until he died 3 years ago at 88, one month after I answered Nanay's call for me to come to help her take care of him. I think that once I was there Dad was comforted knowing that I was there, too, for Nanay, and it was finally time for him to let go.

Happy Father's Day to all.