*blend

After my Dad retired, it seemed there wasn’t too much he was interested in at home. But one day, a hummingbird built her nest in the tree on a low branch right outside their living room window. He loved watching that bird, and her eggs. Whenever we visited, he talked about her, and took my kids to see her and the little nest. I think that hummingbird will be the thing I remember best about my Dad for the rest of my life. He was always working, so I really didn’t get a chance to get know him until I, and he, were much older. A short time after the hummingbird left, my Dad went to the hospital, and never went home agin. He passed away the day after Christmas 6 months later. I saw him the weekend before. We took him a little Christmas tree and some presents, and I told him I would see him at New Year’s… and he said I wouldn’t. I cried as we left the hospital that day, and I didn’t know why. I cried more that day than when he passed away. Dad was saying goodbye without actually saying it, and in my heart I knew it, but my brain just wouldn’t accept it.

Today, I was walking out my front gate and glanced up at the old pecan tree, and there, on a low branch in my own front yard, a hummingbird has built her nest. Funny how such a small thing can mean so much.