Loved, but not Lost

Dear Dad,

It’s been 7 years since I last spoke to you face to face. I speak to you now, sometimes in sleep, sometimes in waking, sometimes in memory. Most often I think of you while high in the mountains backpacking, hiking, spelunking, scuba diving, or while studying your grandson. He has your eyes. 

I think of you when in the service of others. How many people did we pack or unload from moving trucks? How many secret Santa deliveries did we make? How many cuts and bruises did you sew up and sooth? I think you chose to be a doctor not just heal people's bodies, but with your calm, gentle words, to heal their spirits.

My first memory of you is teaching me to doggy paddle, empowering me to explore the water on my own, showing me the importance of independence and trust. I recall you holding the back of my bike as I struggled to get my balance. I remember you packing us up for family trips and teaching us the importance of frugality by doing things yourself—like fixing that troublesome van again, and again, and again. You only ever splurged one day of the year. I’ll never forget the light in your eyes on Christmas morning as you watched us filter into the living room and shriek for joy.

I remember the music. You played piano every night. It soothed my soul and made me yearn to find the music within. You championed my singing and quieted my complaining brothers.

You taught us the scriptures. They have been a source of comfort and strength in hard times, a place for seeking answers when I earnestly needed to know truth, and in times without you.

The greatest lesson I learned from you, Dad, is the lesson of family. Because you loved us, you lived your life in such a way that we could one day be together forever, and showed us the way.

I love you, Dad. Thank you for the legacy you left me. When this life is done I will gladly step beyond, knowing that my father waits with a welcoming embrace. I look forward to that day.

Love,

                Crystal

 

Stephen Lloyd Hicken was born May 17, 1950 and is a beloved son, husband and father. He served a mission in Brazil, four years in the air force, as a scout master for 20+ years, and as a doctor. On November 20, 2004 he left this life after a three year battle with lung cancer. He is greatly missed; loved, but not lost.

More Awards!!

Recently on facebook we held a poll for which song from Immortal the Musical should be made into a music video. Here's our winner! (Now go "like" it on facebook!)

On to the real business for today.

Continuing from last week... Thank you Lady Jai for this award! You rock.

The rules for the Stylish Blogger Award:

• Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award


Share things about yourself
Award recently discovered great bloggers
Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award

I'm good with all but part 2 there. Things about me...

1. I LOVE CHEESE. That's an easy one. 

2. I have about fifteen nicknames, but the most common are Chicken and Crystal the Pistol. 

3. Unlike my hubby, I vividly remember about 60% of my childhood. (Thus the YA/MG writing angle.) 

4. I learned how to sing by mimicking Sarah Brightman, aided by 4 yrs of voice lessons, and hindered by one of my brothers. (I have 5.) I couldn't open my mouth without him storming, stomping, screaming, threatening. He's probably the reason I persisted--the whole "underdog will conquer" mentality. Incidentally, he's fine with it now.

5. I never had a "clique" or group. My collection of best friends come from very different backgrounds, ethnicities and even countries. (Russia, China, Columbia, and Haiti to name a few.) 

6. My favorite and least favorite place to live was New York City. 

7. Home schooling my 3 kids is the greatest challenge I have yet faced. I waiver on a daily basis, but it's what they need--especially in light of our propensity to move.

8. I quit piano lessons because I was sick of playing other people's music. Six months later (at 13) I wrote down my first composition. Who knew that quitting lessons would one day lead to a FULL BLOWN MUSICAL!!!

Enough about me. Now on to the deserving subjects of today's post!

1. The Lit Express 

2. Eternal Moonshine of a Daydreaming Mind 
3. Ghost Horses Gallop for the Earth!
4. A Writers Work is Never Done
5. Dunhaven Place
6. Girl Unpublished
7. Carole Anne Carr 
8. Freckle Head
9. Dark Angel Fiction
10. Clarissa Draper
11. Damsel in a Dirty Dress
12. Heather Justesen
13. Ink Spells
14. Fabulous Reads
15. Jenni James