Between those words

I came across this poem, which I wrote a few months before my father passed away on 25 April 2025. I wrote this after a moment alone with my dad, when I realized he was slowly slipping away from me, from us, from life.

Between those words

We sit together in silence

I can feel you

I can hear you breathe

I notice your bodily presence

I look aside and find your eyes

I see emptiness

You are nowhere to be found

Where are you?

I close my eyes for a moment

I hear your voice in me

It has been with me all my life

Telling me to be a man

To be strong

To swallow my grief

To hide my tears

Between those words, I can find the love

Your love

My love

In that love, we truly meet

In that love, we are the same

In that love, you and I are dancing with life

I open my eyes

I look aside and find your eyes

There you are!

In the summer of 2024, my father was diagnosed with dementia, and by November, we learned he had cancer, which had spread. Suddenly, life confronted him in a way he could no longer manage or control. After years of lovingly caring for his partner through Alzheimer’s, it was now his turn to surrender—to receive rather than give. That was when the real struggle began.

In the final months of his life, we often sat together in silence. At the time, those moments felt simple, almost empty. Looking back, I see how deeply meaningful they were.