Pat G’Orge-Walker
This is for those men, young and old, who are fa-
thers. Whether you are the natural or stepfather,
if you are in the paternal position this is for you.
You are as necessary to the children as the air they
breathe … so make sure you step up to the plate.
I share with you my reader’s a portion of a letter.
This is the unedited letter I had buried with my
own father. May these words be a forewarning to
some, the comfort of like-mindedness to others
and a celebration if you have no reason to expect
this from a child you reared.
Dear Dad,
Over the years whenever the internal need for your
paternal covers arose, there were none to cover me;
no fitted sheet of fatherly love, no flat sheet of warm-
th and no blanket of protection and respect.
I was left to lie naked on this worldly bed to instead
be covered with a fitted sheet of secondhand love,
often bought on sale and overpriced. I needed it, so
I paid.
I had to settle for the seldom honest flat sheets of
warmth. It, too, often came with a price far beyond
my means. I struggled and mentally worked through
the muck and mire of my everyday existence to pay.
I fought with every fiber I had to keep it, though I
knew its fabric consisted of never-meant-to-be-kept
promises and erratic threads of moral heat.
Knowing I had no blanket of protection and respect
of my own, when the harsh cold winters of truth
came, I needed and accepted “as is” discounted pro-
tection and respect. It’s warranties often expired be-
fore the dawn came.
They tell me that around the same time I felt an urgen-
cy to find my only photo of you and me, eight hundred
miles away after preaching a fiery sermon you suffe-
red a massive heart attack and died. I wondered were
you thinking of me? Did you somehow suddenly realize
how totally uncovered I was? Was there a reason you
never held me, told me you loved me? Unfortunately, I
cannot find the photo so I may never know.
This Saturday, February 15th just three days before my
birthday you will be buried. Along with the dirt used
to cover you will also be covered any chance we might
have had to complete and connect the sides.
However, Father, I want you to know this: also buried
with you so that you won’t be cold during your sleep,
will be my blanket of undying, unspoken love and res-
pect. I can give that to you because I have managed
to find and keep a real love, a love that is boundless
and unconditional. Love that exceeds and encompas-
ses any and everything that a love should. This was a
love that helped to raise three children and blessed me
with grandchildren. Such a love helped me to go on to
become a wife, an actress, singer, writer, author and
Christian comedian; you see, Dad, I can laugh now.
This beautiful love, it loved me enough to give me so-
meone to love and to stand beside me, no matter what.
That love is the love of God. “For He so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten son so that whomsoever
shall believe in Him shall have eternal life.”
I am told that I look exactly like you and that you will
never die until I do. I don’t know how true that is, but
one thing I do believe…I believe one day, when I cross
over to the other side and you and I can meet again,
face-to-face, we will complete this triangle of love.
NKLC Magazine | 23