Fathers and Mentors

With Father's Day coming up I wanted to share something very meaningful to me personally....all of us who achieve some measure of success in this world can point to a parent or a mentor that helped us find our path and learn to find our inner light....the one that guides us and takes us on our journey....for me it was my father.... Douglas Muldoon, veteran, business owner and entrepreneur, father, mentor, volunteer and just an all around good guy who took his role in my life and in the lives of so many others he touched very seriously!! So take a minute and remember those who helped you on your journey....they are a part of your story and a gift from up above.

I've been thinking of my Dad a lot these days.....As a writer I wrote quite a few poems over the years about him...I thought I'd choose a trilogy to share what I feel best captured my feelings about our amazing journey together through this thing we call life. Sometimes when we were alone together during his final months in his room I would read them to him aloud....he seemed to like the words and he always encouraged me to keep working on my writing. The final poem I included was written sitting vigil by his side near the end of his journey as the two of us got to spend one last night together in the same room..... He never got to hear me read that one.....but wherever he is I find comfort in knowing that he can hear it now......

My Dad was for me a larger than life figure throughout our 54 years together. And though our personalities were vastly different we both were granted the time and grace to come to know and respect each other as only Father's and Son's can. I came to respect him even more deeply for the way he bravely waged war with such a difficult disease....It deepened his faith but it also revealed a capacity to love and accept people for who they were that I hope I can learn to develop in my own life....he was a really good man and he made people feel that they mattered to him because they did!!!

I got to know many Parkinson's patients in my Dad's final year and saw the way the disease could literally crush a person's spirit as it robbed their physical abilities....not him!!! As each sliver of his physical ability would disappear under the strain of the disease, he would find joy in the smallest of graces and somehow always find a way to brighten the room with his warm smile. When all the activities that were left for him were in his dreams he continued to dream well!!! 

These three poems are my tribute to the man who taught me so many lessons that I could never repay the debt, and it was his shining life example that was the key ingredient for my words.

As my Dad's journey ended those that were there with him said a small smile appeared on his face.... I would like to believe he smiled because he was stepping into the warm embrace of the light that was waiting for him as he left this world........and joined those he loved on the other side....Safe journeys Pops!!!

The Masters Box

Just a box of wood and inlay

Made real by father’s touch

Passed down one generation

By a man that cared so much

Each line would tell his story

Its handmade craft made real

Tight grain and hand filed metal

Would yield to craftsmen’s feel

Along this straight and narrow

Where skills slow built cross time

As training yields to masters hands

Fine skills pass down through line

I learned beside this giant man

Who taught me life needs care

And passed to me his gentle gift

From a lifetime built then shared

PT Muldoon

? 2016, PT Muldoon

The Lion Sleeps

I knew him as a lion

A hero to a child

His roar a force of nature

He taught us right from wild

His voice is getting softer now

His eyes like shattered glass

I treasure every moment

And pray they’re not the last

I yearn for days now long since gone

And know they’ve left for good

And treasure with him memories

As we talk of all we should

His lived life as my hero

His character was strong

A life lived by conviction

He taught us right from wrong

His life not without errors

On that we both agree

Like all of us he knows regrets

But seeks to set them free

And as I watch the lion sleep

I see the man within

Disease might claim his dignity

But deep down its still him

We sit and pray together now

For better times ahead

He guides me with his wisdom

His kids in charge instead

The roles have come full circle

And now we guide his ways

And seek to show him honor

And fight for treasured days

And sometimes in the quiet

I watch the lion sleep

And marvel at his dignity

As constant vigil keep

I know the day is coming soon

The lions roar will cease

And he will live in memory

Where journey ends in peace

But as for now we’ll cherish

All the moments still with him

And listen to him eagerly

As the lions roar grows dim

And if there is a lesson here

In all that aging keeps

Just one last teaching moment

Taught as the lion sleeps

PT Muldoon

? 2016, PT Muldoon

This Side Of The Gates

A moment caught in silence

As seams of life tear free

Revealing hidden places

That only our eyes see

I will not dread your leaving

You always gave your best

A last hill steeped in struggle

Life's journey's now finds rest

For I will soldier on alone

As load gets passed my way

To carry you within my heart

Remains from bygone day

My tears will dry to memory

Sweet life we'll bid adieu

To honor all accomplishments

Your journey's nearly through

Just a moment caught forever

And held deep in my heart

I thank you for your guidance

And treasure your sweet part

And as your life is winding down

This great new journey waits

The angels gave me glimpses

From this side of the gates

PT Muldoon

? 2016, PT Muldoon