Memory of my father

When my father got really sick, my sister starting making a photo slideshow of my father's life, with a soundtrack. One of the songs that accompany the photos was one of those new-fangled versions of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. The video played and re-played during the three hours my family greeted guests at my father's viewing, so in the background of this somber (well, as somber as my family can be - which actually wasn't very somber) occasion was this constant, though quiet, soundtrack of my dad's life. And sometimes we'd hear Somewhere Over the Rainbow. I imagine every time I hear that song, from now until I die, I'll think of my dad.

My wife has one of those new-fangled versions, though it's different than the one playing on my dad's video. Still, her CD was playing tonight (yes, we still listen to CDs) and once again, I heard Somewhere Over the Rainbow playing in the background of my life. I was picking up after my son at the time, who had spread all the pens and pencils we own on the ground to lay the plans for a house. One of those pencils was a black-painted Scripture Marker that is popular among Mormons. I picked that pencil up while Somewhere Over the Rainbow played.

Anyone who knew my father - Mormon or not - knew he loved the Mormon church. And he was a seminary teacher by trade, so he had a lot of those pencils sitting around the house while I was growing up. They remind me of a lot of things - mostly of the number of times I went to the junk drawer searching for a regular pencil and could only find a couple of old Scripture Markers (which, by the way, only write in red). But when I picked up the only Scripture Marker pencil we own this evening, I was reminded of my father and his love for all things Mormon - but in particular, his love for the scriptures.

I thank God he left that love to me before he died.


One Memory of My Father
1 New-fangled version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow
1 Black-painted Scripture Marker
Hundreds of early mornings around the kitchen table, reading from the Good Books