Today
I get on a plane
to see my daughter in Minneapolis
the distance is immense
yet in as little as three hours
I will travel over a thousand miles
my grandmother
crossed the prairie
in a Conestoga Covered wagon
she lived in a sod house when she was young
she survived a burst appendix
and said
she could still smell the burning of her dressings
as her flesh died
she had gangrene
and yet she lived
and because of that
I exist
and Dad
lived through the depression
with a single Mom
and it was hard
and he never thought he had money
even when he lived on a golf course
with a new car in his driveway
he felt poor.
I asked him on my twenty first birthday
What were you doing when you were twenty one?
and he said
flying over France on D day
and
I knew how different our lives were
and
tried to understand
why he wouldn't tell me who he was
and what he knew
and experienced
he tried to protect me
from the fact
that he knew war
and
did what he had to do.
but
I wanted him to tell me
and let me know
who he was
I wouldn't have judged him
he flew B52's
he dropped bombs
and some of them destroyed
other things than just buildings
but
one night
a long time ago
he came to my room
when I was very small
he had a beautiful voice
In another time
he could have been a singer
that night
he sang to me
the Lord's Prayer
and
I fell asleep
Loved