In Memoriam, JPR, 1927-1995.

A letter below written in Avalon, a beach town on Seven Mile Island in Southern New Jersey. Here and now, in this place, with our two young grandchildren here enjoying the beach, this is the right time and place to "take stock" and "count my blessings". Pure and simple, much to be thankful for. And much still to do... acting on all the "gifts" given.



Dear Dad,

You never saw Parker or Ella or this house at the beach but you gave shape and direction to the lives inside this house and you shaped their lives too.

Please know the enormous joy I feel with these children is rooted in "gifts" you left me, then and now.

In the end, you attended to what you called "the eternal now". You faced consciously and directly, without illusions, your unwanted guest (stomach cancer). It took you to places you did not want to go.

Your handwritten journals written over those last two and half years and your unpublished book manuscript offer "glimpses" (moments and stories) from inside your final, remarkable journey.

Great pain, loss, and moments of "pure seeing" described.

Luminous moments found and given to others.

And, as a fellow traveler, a pilgrim like all of us, we can see you as a man finding and claiming your own wholeness as the Jungians say.

Your courage and generosity taught us all to reach deep inside and discover grace and mystery and "gift" at the heart of life.

You gave your four children pure, unconditional love your entire life. You never missed a beat.

You were my mentor, my teacher, my hero, my best friend.

I am sure your other children feel exactly the same. You saw and responded to all four of us in exactly the ways we each needed.

Each day I learn from you re what counts in a life.

Often, falling short, but I begin again. "Always, we begin again".

I am grateful beyond words.