My Dad has been my best friend for 44 years. Many daughters might say the same, but anyone who knows Dad and I would agree that we are two peas in a pod.
Eight years ago, he moved from Ohio to Key West to start a new life; hopeful that he could live authentically and simply with his partner.
I visited him often over the years, but I always missed our face to face conversations and I missed being able to share “that look” where we knew one understood the other (and vice versa). We found comfort in that space of wordlessness, knowing that each of us “got” the other whole-heartedly. In this space lived unconditional love.
Many evenings during our phone conversations across the miles, we found comfort in something else…the moon.
“Mr. Moon” (as Dad often called our lunar guide) illuminated the evening sky during many conversations over the years; not just the eight years since Dad moved to Key West, but 20+ years prior to that when I attended college away from home. Mr. Moon was always visible when my Dad wasn’t and as such, the moon connected us even when we were apart. No matter how far the distance, my Daddy and I always shared the same moon.
Last night, Dad was admitted to the hospital and has been in a state of wordlessness since that time. I have not spoken with him, but his partner has been physically there by his side in my absence.
Tonight, as I called the hospital to check on Dad, I ventured outside to sit under the tranquil, starry sky. His nurse told me he was resting well and seemed peaceful.
Good news for now.
In an instant, I looked up in the sky and gazed at that majestic and beautiful Mr. Moon.
Bright, glowing, peaceful moon.
With a smile on my face and a sense of contentment in my heart I realized that my Dad is over 1,300 miles away; that together we are sitting comfortably and peacefully in wordlessness and most beautiful of all, no matter what the distance, we still share the same moon.
