As the 3 year anniversary of my father’s death approaches, I’m in a different place. A space of love and acceptance, appreciation rather than deep loss. Grief takes time. It changes but never fully leaves you.
For some reason that I can’t ask him, my father had a little plastic Yoda on the shelf in his bathroom. It was obviously something he wanted to see every day. I took it home with me and it lives in my closet alongside my mother’s jewelry box. I wrote a poem about it.
Wisdom of Small Things
I’m a collector of small things:
A miniature Yoda from my father’s
bathroom shelf reminds me,
“Do or do not. There is no try. “Try as I might to let Dad go,
I still want him here
to guide me.My father once told me
I could only do what I could do.
I remind myself everyday
to leave my students’ problems
at school.Little Yoda,
help me lean on your wisdom.Margaret Simon, draft
Reflections on the Teche 