I See Daddy in the Mirror

Daddy was my hero

Looking in the mirror

I catch glimpses of my father

The shape of his face

His almond-shaped brown eyes

He passed his smile to me as well

Even his ears are on loan to me

His sadness and depression

Ignored by the family

Diminished by my mother

Chased away all who did not understand

When I look into his eyes

I see that he also passed those traits to me

My own sad eyes seem to catch me off guard

Every now and then

By the striking resemblance to my Dad's

A blessing in disguise

Our familial dispositions

He was a man of solitude

Who could be kind, friendly, and verbose

When it was called for

His personality was an enigma

Always catching us by surprise

From one day to the next

He could be selfish on occasion

Then, incredibly selfless

Feeding hungry neighborhood kids

From his Gas Station treat cooler

And happily sharing food from our cupboards

To friends when the need arose

He would charge a rich man double to repair his car

Then pass the largesse to the next family

By repairing their broken-down vehicle for free

While passing out ice cream, and soda pop to the children.

He taught me the importance of reading about history

He gave me an insatiable love of learning the past

By sharing his terrifying stories of war in the trenches

Of the Ardennes Forest during WWII

He taught me about his fight with lifelong depression

I always understood him, even when he frightened me

It's a good thing to be yourself

Even if it makes life difficult

If my melancholia was a gift from my father

I accept it with pleasure

It is an honor to be compared to such a man