MY FATHER-- "POP" (dVerse OLN 112)

A BLOGGER Friend posted about her father.

The few lines inspired me to bring HERE to 

dVerse Poets Pub and grille (gotta eat, too!)

one of a thousand memories of my "POP". 

Hope you enjoy it.

Steve Elsaesser, c.1968, Naples FL

He said to me..."THIS is my favorite picture"

As posted on Friend Susan Deborah's BLOG:

Yes, Dear Susan Deborah, those days WERE different. It is always so.

My father, another Steve Elsaesser, also was a story teller, from my earliest memory. It had not yet occurred to me that the blind can "see" things in a story--as in life--of which others had lost focus. AND...his stories ALWAYS changed just enough that ya didn't want to miss a single word.

After age 50, when he could no longer hear, children would flock to gather around him to listen..all ages. He always made his tales a learning experience, some morality, some memorable "bon mots" therein.

When he could neither see nor hear, he only knew children were present if they touched him. And they DID! Always, the fearlessness of children around him astonished me.  

Adults would give us a LOT of room to walk by, so they would not have to "look at" his disfigured eyes nor--OMG!--"touch" him.

Meanwhile, young people, ages 2-13 would climb all over him in the sand and water at the beach in Naples. HE LOVED IT! It seemed to me that children would and did realize (somehow) that his ("Broken eyes", they called them!) could "see" God in everything...everywhere. (His occupation: dairy farmer.)

Thanks for bringing back that memory to me, Susan Deborah!
PEACE and LIGHT!

--steveroni
September 2013