I am not sure at what point I realized that the man whom I had seen as my all-powerful and invincible father not only wanted me as I am, but also needed me to stand by him through the long journey into his own death. My father needed my friendship. It still seems to me to be an astonishing gift of God's grace that in the last years of his life I was able to stand with him as his friend who was his adult child.
You are free before the sun of the day, and free before the stars of the night: And you are free when there is no sun and no moon and no star. You are ever free when you close your eyes upon all that is.
