To Ellen on her graduation from
high school 2011-06-10
Ellen we love you and
are enormously proud of you as our daughter – however we realize
that we are not
alone in feeling this way about our own children. There is an Irishman
by the name of 'van Morrison' the
same age as me – also with a family he loves and a daughter he is
proud of. One of the more noticable differences between this van
Morison and myself is that he can sing a heck of alot better than I
can!! I am going to play you a beautiful song that he sang , starting with a
description of how beautiful he found his daughters smile. I share
his sentiments.
Apart from this, there
are 3 things I would like to comment on. The name of this song is
"These are the days". A major aspect of being young as yourself,
is in the many
hopes and dreams for the future that develop within you --- and this is wonderful .. It is one
of the forces that will drive you to fulfillment and prosperity .
However my hope Ellen, is that you will also learn to stop and enjoy the
enormous beauty in the wonderful 'here and now" moments of your life. This
inspiration is neccesary to deal with the uphill stretches that
inevitably will come.
Van Morison is not a
religious singer, but he did sing a line about the "Great magician
that turned the water into wine" – The wonderful capacity of taking
something quite ordinary, and making it into something special is in
itself a miricle. Today started off as an ordinary day, I pulled my
socks on one foot at a time sitting on the side of our bed, cleared
the 'morning' out of my throat just like every other ordinary day. But
today Ellen, you and your mom have made it possible to transform
this ordinary day into something very special for us all – A
wonderful experience with a memory that will doublessly inspire us
through many of our tomorrows.
One little warning for
the future. A little riddle in the bible says that "He that seeks
himself will lose himself, but he that loses himself shall find
himself. Ellen don't spend all your time and energy on your own
personal interests and goals – However right and proper they may be,
they will ultimately prove somewhat minor in the major
feelings of achievement and satisfaction in life. It is in being able
to move focus from yourself, to appreciate the wonderful beauty in the
folks and situations that are
around you, both in fortune and misfortune, that will lead you the the richest gold of personal
fulfillment.
Here comes this song
from Van Morrison beginning with a loving tribute to the beauty of
his daughters "smiling face". Hope you enjoy it -- I think it fits.
From your mom and dad,
This link is to a 4Mb
MP3 music file that may take a few minutes to load.
These
are the days by van Morrison
Oh your smiling face your gracious presence
The fires of spring are kindling bright
Oh the radiant heart and the song of glory
Crying freedom in the night
These are the days by the sparkling river
His timely grace and our treasured find
This is the love of the one magician
Turned the water into wine
These are days of the endless dancing and the
long walks on the summer night
These are the days of the true romancing
When I'm holding you oh so tight
These are the days by the sparkling river
His timely grace and our treasured find
This is the love of the one great magician
Turned water into wine
These are the days now that we must savor
And we must enjoy as we can
These are the days that will last forever
You've got to hold them in your heart
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